Rant #2,363: It's the End of the World As We Know It

Diversity, in its basic application, is a good thing.

It allows everyone to participate, everyone to get a chance, everyone to feel that they belong.

However, in current times, diversity has been twisted by the PC Police and their followers to mean, well, inclusion leading to exclusion.

if you want to include certain groups of people in a certain situation, yet you only include them because of their race, ethnic background, or beliefs--and not on their talent--then you are excluding those who really should be there, and you are doing it because of the wrong reasons.

The current incident that I am going to talk about is not that extreme by any measure, but it just goes to show that the tentacles of the PC Police are everywhere--and if they can do it here in this particular instance, their wrath can infect other things that are much, much more important.

The annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is one of the largest selling magazines of the year, featuring one beautiful model after another being human mannequins for the latest swimwear.

And yes, they show plenty of skin, and let's be honest about it, that is what sells the publication, Few care about the swimsuits, they want to see who is in them and what amount of skin they are showing.

For the latest edition of this publication, someone believed it was a good thing to allow the PC Police to guide them in their choice of models and swimwear, and thus, the very tenet of this publication has been destroyed, as diversity--or at least the current definition of it--has reared its ugly head in this sophomoric publication.

Somali-American Model Halima Aden is included in the issue, and wears a hijab and burkini in her photos in the magazine.

This is about as sexy as watching your fingernails grow, and really, the only reason her photo is in the publication is for shock value.

She is completely covered up, less her face, which I am surprised they did not try to cover up too.

And beyond the shock value, what is the purpose of this?

Look, I am not comparing this to people being excluded from a position because they do not fit the current color/background/ethnicity of the moment, but it is, once again, pushing a political agenda where it shouldn't be pushed.

This is not the latest style, and I doubt anyone but women who follow the Muslim faith will be running out and getting such swim attire for themselves, so really, what are you selling here?

No, this is not Kate Upton, that's for sure!

And I also find it hilarious, as well as sad, that Sports Illustrated is pushing a political agenda which is anti-women as well.

It is well known that in the Muslim world, women are treated as secondary citizens to men, and they are basically there to have children and little else.

Why are we pushing the inclusion of such thinking into our own, already diverse and forward thinking culture?

I have no idea, but I am sure plenty of people who normally will purchase this publication will pass on it now, and I am also sure that people who normally don't purchase this publication will do so this year just to have this issue in their possession.

So it really is a wash, but it is still disturbing.

I have never purchased the Sports Illustrated issue, and I am certainly not going to plunk down my hard earned money for the publication this time around.

As a very proud, full blooded American male, I find this shameful that something as non-political as models wearing swimsuits has been pushed into the political arena.

Everything is based on politics today, You can't do, see, or execute anything without an agenda being thrown into the mix.

Nobody has fun anymore, nobody can laugh at others and themselves anymore, nobody can relax and just sit back and take it all in.

Although minor in the grand scheme of things, Sports Illustrated allowing the PC Police into its swimsuit issue is simply another notch on the PC Police's holster, and it demonstrates that their reach--and their wrath--is widespread.

Enough already. We want real cheesecake.

We want to take back this publication to what it was, a leerer's delight.

Enough with this PC nonsense.

We want skin!

And more importantly, we want no agendas and no politics.

The two Kates--Upton and Smith--and the rest of the thinking and breathing on their own American public have had enough.

Like I said, enough already!

Classic Rant #1,010 (July 31, 2013): Woodstock

When I was on vacation, one of the things I did was listen to a lot of music from my collection of albums and 45s.

I hadn't listened to the Woodstock three-LP set for years and years, and since I had the time, I decided to listen to it again this past week.

The album, on the Cotillion Records label, chronicles the multi-day concerts that took place at that upstate New York location--or somewhere near it--during the summer of 1969, right about 44 years ago, from August 15-19.

The soundtrack album is the companion piece to the more than three hour film that was culled together from all of the concert performances that took place during the festival, which went on to become probably the most famous set of concerts to come out of that era.

It signified the change of the guard, if you will, for the music scene, with the two and a half minute song about boy meets girl moving over for music about peace, love, and vehemently against the Vietnam war.

A real cornucopia of artists appeared at the festival, including Richie Havens, John Sebastian (without the pop-leaning Lovin' Spoonful, of course), Joan Baez, Canned Heat, Sly and the Family Stone, Country Joe and the Fish, and Jimi Hendrix.

Just about every act rode the coattails of their association with the festival as long as they could, and some even ride it to this day.

Listening to the recording more than four decades later, yes, my copy is well worn, with skips and stutters throughout, but it is still highly listenable, bringing me back to a time when I was much younger and much more naive than I am today.

As were most of the concert goers. Peace and love can only go so far, and drugs can only take you higher for a time.

I mean, you do have to pay the bills.

Yes, the music is as dated as all heck. Most of it doesn't hold up at all in this age of technology and Justin Bieber.

After listening to the set once again, I can say that this is definitely a period piece, very little more.

Yes, it documents a very important period in history--when people actually believed that the younger generation and its music were game changers--but upon listening again, it simply signified a generation and what it believed in back then.

How many of the people that attended this series of concerts eventually became the "suits" that they so rebelled against at the show?

How many needlessly died because they thought that drugs were their salvation?

Did the concerts really everlastingly change anything, except maybe to bolster the arising FM radio band and to get other acts on the air that wouldn't be played by Top 40 stations?

Ultimately, were these concerts overrated in their scope and significance as the years have gone by?

I can say yes to probably all of these things.

Heck, the album was put out by a division of Atlantic Records, one of the largest music conglomerates in the world.

Putting it out on subsidiary Cotillion simply was a ploy to make the records seem "cooler," and Cotillion was a label that put out several rock and roll soundtracks at that time, so it worked to Atlantic's advantage to put it out under that banner.

Anyway, the recording techniques used back then were primitive by today's standards, but even though I do like many of the acts that performed there, to me, there was one standout above the rest: Sly and the Family Stone.

Here was an act that was for the time, an act that burned out seemingly as quickly as they emerged from San Francisco in 1967.

Somehow, they were one of the few acts at the festival that was equally welcomed by both AM and FM radio, no small feat during this period of time.

They gave their all at these concerts, and listening to them on the record, their power comes across even more than 40 years later.

When they sing "I Want To Take You Higher," you really believe them.

Hindsight is a great thing to have, and certainly, when you listen to this recording, you really get the benefit of 44 years of hindsight when you judge this recording.

Yes, I could have gone to the festival, but I know my mom would have not been too happy.

Based on a lot of the stuff that went on there, my father probably wouldn't have been as unhappy as my mom, but I did have a friend whose older sister went, and she wanted to take her brother and me there, but I politely declined.

Listening to the thing on record is on thing, as is watching the movie.

Actually being there was another, and while I wouldn't have taken any drugs there, I certainly would have probably overdosed on all the peace and love that supposedly transpired during this festival.

It probably was one of the most surreal events in the nation's history, but I don't regret missing it.

The LP stands as a worn musical document about what went on there, and I can live with that.

Rant #2,362: Oh Happy Day

I am back, back where I belong after a very good and successful birthday weekend.

Everything went well, I am happy to say.

I got some nice gifts, my family and I went out to eat two times--one Italian restaurant with my wife's side of the family, one Chinese restaurant with my wife and son--I saw my daughter and nephew, and the Yankees swept their weekend series with the Giants.

What more could I ask for?

Well, my allergies are terrible--I am sure I am not the only one suffering right now--and I have to go back to work today after an extended weekend.

Our toilet also broke on Saturday night, but by early Sunday morning, it was fixed.

That ended up being a great birthday gift. I will leave it to your imagination to figure out why.

But all in all, I have absolutely nothing to complain about right now.

Some people do not like their birthdays, but I simply love having my birthday.

It is another year in the books, and another year in the books as I inch toward retirement, or whatever they call retirement nowadays.

I would like to work until I am at least 70. That way, I would get my full Social Security benefits.

I have no pension, as my 401k was discontinued by my work and I now have two IRAs encompassing that money, so that Social Security money will be important--but certainly not enough to sustain myself or my family.

I will probably always work, always do something, never fully retire. That would be too boring anyway.

Will I spend the next seven years at my current place of business?

It is very doubtful. As I mentioned in past Rants, we are on firmer ground at work than we have been for the past couple of years, but that does not mean that the company will last until 2027. All that means is that for now, and for the next few months, I have a job and this company still exists.

Once past the summer, who knows?

But if worse comes to worse--the company goes out of business and I go down with it as it sinks into oblivion, I cannot find another job, and I go on unemployment--by October of this year, I will be eligible for Social Security, so I will take an early retirement.

It won't be pretty, I will have to find something else to do to make some money, but that is when I will be eligible to get Social Security.

My wife, five months older than me, can take early retirement as of next month, but I doubt she will do it. She works for a stable company, thank goodness, but why retire early when you are in a good situation? She talks about it, but she won't do it, at least not when she becomes eligible.

Goodness, I cannot believe I am even talking about retirement. I swear, it seems like yesterday that I was playing stickball, going to school, dressing up for assembly days and digging up the ground in the backyard of the places that I lived.

I cannot believe that I am 62! The years have gone really fast.

I saw my daughter yesterday. She just got into a master's degree program at her alma mater.

I see my son, and today, he is ready to begin the first day of his new career.

That is what grounds me.

Yes, I AM really 62 years of age, and this is the future.

I hope when these two kids of mine reach 62 years of age themselves that they can marvel at the past and future--where they have been and where they are going--like I can.

It has been a great life, and I can't wait for my next birthday!

There is only 365 days to go, adding in the extra day we are getting next year for Leap Year.

And thanks to all who wished me happy birthday. You guys allow me to look at my past and future in such a good light.

Tally ho and away I go!

Classic Rant #1,009 (July 30, 2013): Facebook Fracas

Now that I am fully back in the saddle--and ready to tackle things at work during my first day back--I want to bring up to you something that once again reared its ugly head during my staycation, and continues to impact people who use Facebook.

And that, frankly, is people who use Facebook.

I have been on that site for a few years now, and I fear that most people who use Facebook have no clue about how to use it correctly.

Facebook is an electronic social gathering site.

You can speak to friends and the general populace on that site.

That is all fine and good.

But what you post on that site, and your reaction to people who respond to your posts, is what gets my goat.

I have been told once again that someone hasn't liked a reply I made to a post that was put up several weeks ago.

When you are on Facebook, you start, and enlarge upon, a list of friends that you allow to see your posts.

If you put up something on Facebook, it is my contention that you are looking for a reaction, even if that reaction is simply a "like," which is a spot you can click on within a post.

When you "like" something, in my estimation, it means you agree with what is being said, or you simply "like" what the person has put up.

Now, I have been told in the past that that isn't even true, that clicking "like" doesn't mean any of those things.

Of course, those who oppose my view can't tell me what "like" means to them, but what are you going to do?

Anyway, a post was put up several weeks ago by one of my Facebook "friends."

I am told that the post had to do with former President Bill Clinton, the teflon President who is beloved by so many people, even though his sexual improprieties while in office are very, very well documented (take that, Anthony Weiner).

Anyway, I have to tell you that I honestly don't remember the exact post, but evidently, according to the poster, I put up something that was against everything she said in the post, and it really rankled her.

Well, I am sorry it upset her day, but if you put up a post, you have to expect that any one of your friends can respond.

They can simply pass it by.

They can "like" it.

They can respond.

And they can respond positively, negatively, or be non-committal about it.

I must have put up something that was against the poster's beliefs and intentions, and that got her goat.

Sorry, but too bad.

Although I don't remember the post she put up, I know that I didn't use foul language like so many people do, and I know the response was written legibly.

But man, did what I say make her nuts!

But let me tell you, being thin skinned has not place on Facebook.

I have put up things that have gotten other people nuts.

I have received some of the nastiest, most vulgar replies you can imagine.

But does it get me nuts?

NO!

And the reason is that I expect a reply, and that is why I posted.

Positive, negative, somewhere in the middle, that is fine, I expect people to reply--my Facebook "friends," if you will, people who are my friends because we have like interests.

That is fine.

We can be "friends" and disagree on just about everything.

I know there are some people on Facebook who get this, and there are others who live in some type of fog and just don't understand what posting means.

It puts you open to any type of reply.

And yes, if you don't like the response, you can reply too.

That is the beauty of the whole thing, but it is lost on some people, some very intelligent people who should know better.

Look, I know that many, many people don't get Facebook at all.

They put up photographs and talk about things that they shouldn't be talking about.

Companies are starting to check out Facebook when looking into hiring employees, because they believe that a person's true character can be found on that site.

I don't agree, but ladies, when you put up a photo of yourself with your chest hanging out all over the place, what does that tell a potential employer?

And guys, when you punctuate what you say on Facebook with every curse word known to man, what does that tell somebody about hiring you?

One clear instance of this is with a local TV personality, who I will not name.

She is young, definitely part of the Facebook generation, if you will.

Before she got her current gig, she had a Facebook page that really was nothing with nothing.

She spoke to friends, and most of her photos were appropriate.

But most of her photos showed plenty of cleavage.

Not nasty, mind you, but some of the outfits she wore in the photos might have shown a bit too much.

Well, she is now a well-known personality, and you won't find the least bit of cleavage on her site.

Nothing, and I mean, nothing.

She "cleaned up" that site pronto.

She "got it."

And that is no knock on her. She is a pretty lady, and has plenty to be proud of.

But I bet that either someone told her to make some changes, or she just figured it was best to make them herself.

And that is fine.

She got the power of Facebook, and I just hope that others will eventually too.

It is too good a tool to not fully understand.

Rant #2,361: Pieces of April

April appears to be coming up roses for me as we head into the latter stages of the month and I head right into my birthday on Sunday.

Things are going better in my personal life. I haven't listed everything here, but I have a lot to be thankful for as this month roars to its finish.

For one, my job appears to be more stable, at least for the next few months, so it is a little easier to go to work knowing that today is not the day that I lose my job.

The sword of Damocles is still there, but that shiny blade is a little further up off my neck at this point in time.

And as you know, I had a nice surprise over the past few days, as a story that I wrote in 1980 resurfaced on Facebook, bringing me a load of memories.

The fun, and good feelings, continued yesterday.

In January, I told you about another story from my past the resurfaced, a review and interview i did related to the film "Up!" and revolving around Raven de la Croix, the star of the film and my very first celebrity interview.

Well, completely out of the blue, she contacted me yesterday morning on Facebook, apologized for not contacting me sooner about the article in question, which I sent her through the social media site, and we proceeded to have an on again, off again conversation that lasted at least an hour if not more.

I found her to be very pleasant, smart and a very honest person, and we kind of clicked talking about a variety of subjects.

I won't go into exactly what we spoke about, but it was a really nice conversation, and I would love to meet her in person again and do a followup interview with her--more than 40 years after I did the first one!

And that was pretty much all before I set foot in the office yesterday.

Once I got into work, I finally finished a project that had taken me the better part of the last five or six working days to do, and I was pretty happy with myself to have finally completed this annual monstrosity, which I have been doing for years but which seems to get more difficult to do by the year.

And then I went home, did what had to be done at home, watched a little TV, conked out, woke up this morning, and found that the Yankees had won again on their West Coast trip.

Even with all of their injuries--at one point, they had 13 players on the Injured List--they are managing to find ways to win games and keep the fire burning until the big guns return.

So yes, everything is coming up roses as we get closer to April 28.

Yup, this Sunday I turn the big 6-2.

I can't believe that I have reached this age. It has been a good life, and I have so many great memories.

Yes, I am brimming from ear to ear as I write this, and I haven't had such a good feeling in quite a long time.

Sure, that feeling certainly won't last, but right now, it is bright, it is vivid, and it is such a nice feeling to have.

Tomorrow, I have to take the day off from the Rant, because I have some personal business to attend to.

And no, it is not because i want a three-day weekend including my birthday; it just works out that way because of scheduling, but I can tell you that tomorrow, I will not be sitting in a chair and doing nothing.

Without going into detail, it should be an interesting day.

Whatever the case, have a great weekend, I will speak to you again on Monday, and hopefully, I can keep this good feeling I have going ... with a slight case of matzoh stomach and all.

Speak to you then.

Classic Rant #1,008 (July 28, 2013): I'm Back!

Yes, I have returned from vacation to once again write about whatever I feel like writing about.

Today is my last day of vacation, and tomorrow, everything starts up again, so I figured I would start the week the right way and get back to writing this blog.

We didn't go away this year, basically had a "staycation," and all I can say is that it is just about over.

Good riddance.

Nothing much went right during this time off for me nor my family.

We didn't have very much to do at all.

We ate out a few times, went to the movies, tried to find things to do, but alas, without a planned vacation this time around, it was pretty difficult to look at this time off as a vacation.

It was simply time off.

The weather was generally horrid.

The week before, it was 90-plus degrees each and every day.

This past week, we had one day that was in the 60s.

We managed to force ourselves to swim one day, but it really wasn't that refreshing.

I didn't do nearly as much driving as I do when we actually go away, which was good, I guess, but what little driving I did led me to get a ticket for going through a red light ...

Or so it was claimed by Nassau County.

Certain lights here have cameras, and the cameras are very quick to nab you when you go through a yellow light.

I claim that I went through a yellow light, but go fight City Hall on this one.

Yes, I paid my fine already. No sense arguing this. You can't win, although others have fought this.

Not me.

Normally, I drive over 2,000 miles during our vacation, and I have never gotten a ticket anytime we have been on vacation.

This time, I drove a fraction of that amount, and I got a ticket.

Figures, doesn't it?

I watched lots and lots of TV during this time off, which at least filled in the time when we had little or nothing to do.

I watched lots of baseball, and sad to say, the Yankees aren't very good this year.

No surprise there. I didn't think they were any good at the beginning of the season, and I guess my prediction was true.

There were actually some high points during this time off.

My family and I saw one of the latest round of Monkees concerts, and we had a good time at the show.

When I hear music from this era, I darn well know that the kids today really don't know what they're missing. The music today is so bad, it really can't compare with what I listened to when I was a kid.

I guess I am becoming an old fogey.

We also had a nice, relaxing, family barbecue, with my family, my sister's family, and my parents.

That was fun.

But it took us away from reality for maybe a day, and just overall, the news kept on churning on our vacation, err, staycation.

The news continued during my time off, with the Anthony Weiner saga continuing full tilt.

As you might remember, I told you when this thing originally broke that Weiner, as a toddler, lived in Rochdale Village, the community that I grew up in in Queens.

Well, we all don't behave this way, so it has nothing to do with Rochdale Village, I can tell you that.

But anyway, I am back.

I have no idea what my wife and I will do today, but hopefully we will have a pleasant, stress free last day off.

And yes, I am writing this blog at 2:30 in the morning.

I got up from sleep--I went to bed pretty early last night, because there was nothing on TV that thrilled me--and I am not tired now.

I will probably try to go back to sleep when I am done here, so maybe writing this blog will have a calming influence on me.

Certainly, this "staycation" didn't, that's for sure.

Rant #2,360: Rock of Ages

I am a very nostalgic person.

I really love the past, love the memories of days earlier in my life, because it set the pace for where I am now.

I never forget the past, and certainly never try to change it, and it becomes clearer to me as I approach another birthday this weekend.

That is why it was such a surprise when a Facebook friend of mine--we will call him "Fred V."--posted something from my past, from nearly 40 years ago, on Facebook the other day.

I have to tell you, it is something that I pretty much completely forgot about.

In September/October 1980, I was just a young 23 year old kid looking at my future through rose-colored glasses.

I had graduated college in May 1979, and fresh out of school, it took me a while to secure a regular job, and finally, I was hired as a proofreader at a small printing company and worked at the old 14 West 40th address in Manhattan, a building that was torn down several years ago and an address that no longer exists.

Anyway, I was also preparing to go to graduate school to further my chances at securing a good job as a secondary school English teacher. Little did I know how fruitless the pursuit of that particular job was going to be, but again, I had those rose colored glasses firmly on my head at the time.

Anyway, I loved to write, always did, and had written for my school newspaper for the full four years I was in college, making me the only person at my college to do so during that four-year span.

At this point, I would write things all the time, send them to whoever was interested, and evidently, the people who put on the old Rockages rock and roll record and memorabilia show in Manhattan at the Sheraton Hotel got some of my articles, and I was one of the feature articles in their very first issue, shown here.

I wrote an article on the Monkees, which was appropriate because the recently re-emerged and re-invigorated Peter Tork was going to appear at the show, with the announcement shown here.

So I wrote this article--I don't remember if the Rockages people contacted me or I contacted them--and my article was featured in their program/brochure/issue, shown here.

It is always fun to look back on something I wrote when I was really at the beginning of my career. I wasn't a full-fledged writer yet, but the origins were there.

I see that I had the drive, determination and talent to do this type of work, but I was really at my very beginnings when I see an article like this, which was a couple of years removed from the even earlier article I showed you that I had written for my college newspaper about Russ Meyer starlet Raven de la Croix (Rant #2296, January 10, 2019).

Before Fred V. put this thing that I wrote on Facebook, I have to say that I totally forgot about it--and like the college article I showed you, I cannot find the thing for the life of me.

I know that it is in this house, I simply cannot find it now.

But whatever the case, what a kick I got to see it again! And out of the clear blue sky yet!

Goodness, the Monkees article was done a lifetime ago. Who could predict in 1980 where I would be in 2019?

I don't remember if I ever wrote another thing for Rockages, but during this period, I would have things published here and there about a variety of subjects.

Then, out of clear frustration about my work situation, I started up a fanzine called "Hear Again," and the rest is history.

That homemade publication caught the eye of several people--Goldmine gave it its first and only "Best Fanzine" award in the early 1980s--and I was hired as a freelance writer for a fledging music publication on Long Island called "The Island Ear."

From there, I finally earned a living as a writer when I was hired to write about real estate for a weekly industry publication, and that later led to me writing about security alarms and freelancing for a number or publications, writing on a variety of subjects.

And of course, all this led up to my current, more than 23-year job of writing about military exchanges and commissaries for a publication that goes around the world.

But again, you have to start somewhere, and the Rockages publication was one of those starts that I needed to get the confidence to go out and do this for a living.

And yes, what a kick it was to see it all again!

And thanks again Fred V., for putting it up on Facebook for all to see!

Classic Rant #1,007 (July 19, 2013): Staycation Time!

Yes, it is that time of the year again, when the Ranting and Raving Blog bids adieu to all of its many fans, for at least a little while.

It is time to go on vacation, but this year, everything is different.

My family and I aren't going to Florida this time around.

We went on a cruise earlier this year, and now, we really don't have the funds to be traveling south for our summer vacation.

So we are going to stay home, try to do things we wouldn't normally have a chance to do, and make the best of it.

We start off the vacation by seeing the Monkees--Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith--at Westbury. The show has already received excellent reviews, so we are looking forward to it.

From there, it is really anyone's guess.

Our son is working, so we will see him off every day to his job, and I guess my wife and I will find things to do after that.

There are some things in the house that need to be done, and outside the house, maybe we will take in a movie or two, go out to eat a few times, try to make this as good a vacation as we possibly can.

But it will be different from our other vacations, because we won't really be going anywhere.

And yes, beautiful Annette Funicello continues to adorn our vacation Rant, but alas, the world is different this year, because she is no longer around.

So many things are different now, but at least we will be away from the workplace for a week.

And as always, when I am on vacation, I am on vacation, even if it is a staycation, and this site will be inactive for at least a week.

I might have a reason to check in during that week, since I will have access to the Internet being home, but if I want to make this a real vacation, I have to get away for a week from this site too.

So have fun the next week, and I will check back with you soon.

Rant #2,359: One Day At a Time

Today, April 23, is a special day for one of the latter day "America's Sweethearts," if you can even imagine someone getting that designation in this era where even if you look at a female, you can be charged with some type of sexual hijinks and poisoned for life by these accusations.

Me, I am Mr. Un-PC, so go ahead, charge me.

Today, Valerie Bertinelli turns 60, and yes, this lady has been "America's Sweetheart" since the 1970s, when just a teenager on the show "One Day At a Time."

She was cute, she was perky and she seemed to be the squeaky clean girl that all boys wanted to date and all girls wanted to have as a best friend and all parents wanted to have as their child.

Playing daughter Barbara Cooper on "One Day At a Time," Bertinelli grew up before our eyes during the show's 1975 to 1984 run, first playing what you can call the "agreeable" or "calmer" daughter, as opposed to MacKenzie Phillips' more "uppity" daughter portrayal, and she went from young teen to young lady seemingly in a flash.

While Phillips was having her own very out front problems in her personal life played out in the days before social media, Bertinelli--and TV mom Bonnie Franklin--seemed to be the pillars of normalcy, and the counterpoint both on the show and in real life, with Phillips helped make the show the huge hit that it became.

And Hollywood knew they had something special with Bertinelli. While still a teen and still on the sitcom, she starred in a slew of TV movies, appeared in Tiger Beat along with the male heartthrobs of the day, and was pretty ubiquitous on television in an era where racier fare was staring to crack the TV wall, stuff like "Charlie's Angels" putting its stars in bikinis every week.

Bertinelli was the true all-American girl during those years, and everybody seemed to love her.

That is why so many people were shocked when she married rocker Eddie Van Halen, one of the wild childs from the band under his and his brother's last name.

It was like two opposites attracted each other, but Miss Prim and Proper marrying this rocker, who enjoyed every excess there was? How could it be?

The marriage lasted more than a quarter century and produced one son, Wolfgang. Bertinelli later claimed that the reason the union was a rocky one for most of its existence is that she could not deal with her husband's cocaine addiction, nor could she handle the fact that he was a heavy smoker, even though he had been diagnosed with cancer and lost part of his tongue as a result of his addition to nicotine.

She moved on from that rocky marriage, and she had some devils of her own to deal with, some of which she dealt with on national TV, as the spokesman for Jenny Craig.

The once lithe actress had packed on much weight over the years, and she lost much of it when she was the weight loss company's spokesman.

Of course, like all of us, she put the weight back on, lost it again, and this happened several times. Finally, she maintained some type of weight consistency, and in the process, her sex appeal went way up, as she became a really nice looking lady with curves in the right place.

Berinelli eventually was cast in the raunchy "Hot in Cleveland" sitcom, playing alongside, among others, Betty White. The show made "One Day At a Time" look like "Leave It to Beaver," and was TV Land's most popular sitcom during its six years on the air.

On that show, Bertinelli was often the butt of jokes for 1) her relatively innocent personality and 2) because of her emerging bustline. No, this was not "One Day at a Time."

In 2011, she married her financial advisor, in a wedding where her former husband was reportedly a guest.

Today, Bertinelli appears here and there on TV, but her schedule is nothing like it was way back when, when you seemingly could not turn on the TV without seeing her cute face on either a TV show or a TV movie or a commercial.

So happy 60th birthday to Bertinelli, who remains as cute as a button and who will forever be etched in TV viewers' memories, first as a teen and then as an adult.

A solid more than 40 year career in Hollywood is something to be proud of, and yes, Berintelli has much to be happy about on her day.

And so do we.

Classic Rant #1,006 (July 18, 2013): Cover Boy

Remember several months ago when I spoke about the Kate Upton edition of Sports Illustrated?

That was a refreshing magazine cover, especially for us males out there.

Well, there is a new cover out from another publication that, well, isn't that refreshing, and it is causing an uproar much like Upton's cover did, but for a different reason.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the so-called Boston Marathon bomber, is on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and the photo on the cover almost makes him look like a rock star.

You might remember that Tsarnaev was hunted, and shot, after the police gunned down his brother as that atrocious incident during the Boston Marathon shook Boston and the rest of the country.

These were two brothers who weren't born here, but were pretty much raised here. They absorbed all of our traditions, but as the story goes, the older brother was becoming more radical, the younger brother followed, and the rest, unfortunately, is history.

Of course, I am boiling this whole story down to the nub. We will find out more when Tsarnaev goes to trial.

He could receive the death penalty for his alleged actions.

Anyway, back to the cover.

Rolling Stone is a funny magazine, and I don't mean laughably funny.

It really hasn't known its place in the world since it published a nude centerfold of David Cassidy in the early 1970s.

It was established in the mid 1960s by Jann Wenner as a counterculture rock magazine.

Back then, rock magazines tended to be weenybopper rags like Tiger Beat and 16 magazines, and Wenner brought this to the next level, trying to show that rock music was something to be looked at with another eye, that of somebody older than seven years old.

It made rock a snobbish commodity, exactly what it wasn't and never will be, except in the minds of some.

The years have not been kind to Rolling Stone.

It currently wavers between glossy rock star mag and glitzy Hollywood rag.

Remember the cover of Britney Spears when she first started out? The perfect blend of Tiger Beat and Playboy, if you will.

Anyway, putting Tsarnaev on the cover in that picture may be the ultimate nail in the coffin for this publication.

Not that it is going to go away, but as far as its place as something of an "authoritative" journalistic enterprise, which, quite frankly, it hasn't been for years, if ever.

Yes, they put his picture on the cover to get you to buy the magazine, to read it, to talk about it.

That is fine.

But in that pose, well, let's sign this guy to a recording contract and see if he can sing!

Heck, Charles Manson made some recordings, fashioned himself as a rising pop star, so why not this guy?

In today's world, even the most talentless people become stars, so why not a possible terrorist?

We have already heard that hundreds of women--and probably some men, too--have sent him letters, proposing marriage and all that.

He has that look. He could be the lead singer of the next big pop band, The Terrorists.

"Hey, hey, we're The Terrorists,
The feds say we monkeyed around,
But we're too busy building bombs
To turn anybody down ... "

Who knows what his future holds?

But all kidding aside, Rolling Stone was very savvy in putting him on the cover.

They knew it would spark outrage, no matter what was in the issue about him, and it did just that.

Sure, I bet they could have put Kate Upton on the cover, but would we be talking about this now like we are?

Well, maybe, if it was like the Sports Illustrated cover ...

Rant #2,358: Happy To Be Unhappy

Happy Easter.

Happy Passover.

Happy Earth Day.

I think I have everything covered.

But I am not happy this morning.

In fact, I am insulted.

The baseball team that I have rooted for since the beginning of my time, the team I was weened on, sweated with, and supported for decades has made a faux pas that is making them look awfully stupid, and this stupidity is well deserved.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, our country was attacked inwardly by forces that we had never seen and were not prepared for.

People lost their lives in these massacres, and our lives changed forever because of this brutality.

Many organizations wanted to do something to help with the healing, and the New York Yankees decided that during the seventh inning stretch, they would play epic singer Kate Smith's rousing rendition of "God Bless America" to make us feel better about ourselves and our country.

They continued to play Smith's rendition of the song until just about a week ago, when their organist's rendition of the song replaced Smith's song.

Why? Because someone, or some organization, brought up that during the Depression era, about 90 years ago, Smith--one of the most popular singers of her generation--sung at least two songs that in 2019's eyes, could be construed as being racist.

The two songs in question, with questionable lyrics, are "That's Why Darkies Were Born" and "Pickanninny Heaven."

If anyone wanted to prove to the world that political correctness has gone mad, all they had to do is bring up this Smith saga, and it would be proved without a shadow of a doubt.

These songs, the first being a 1931 "hit" for the singer, were sung in an era where songs featuring these types of topics and lyrics were highly acceptable. They were sung by many singers, including black vocalists, and nobody thought anything more about them.

Even in the 1930s, the music of the time reflected the period from which they came from. Even in the tock era, the music of the time represented that era, whether you are talking about "Rock Around the Clock" in the 1950s or "Beat It" in the 1990s.

To dredge up music of the Depression era--decades and decades ago--and hold it up to the supposed standards of today is utterly ridiculous, and to pin this on Smith's head and career is equally ridiculous.

Again, many singers of the time sung those same songs--including activist, actor and singer Paul Robeson--and nobody thought anything of it.

Smith did not author the song, she did not write its lyrics, she only interpreted the song. Yet her memory is being sullied by the PC crowd, who really don't understand that the 1920s and 1930s are not 2019--a year where they turn their backs on the current repulsive music trends to sully something that went on decades ago.

Nobody says the lyrics are acceptable by today's standards, but back then, there was no such thing as political correctness, and people did as they did without having to worry about others looking over their shoulders and criticizing their every move.

And for anyone to bring up these songs of their times in 2019 is completely reprehensible. In fact, by bringing them up again, you are putting the spotlight on them, songs that were buried for good decades ago, never to be heard again.

So whoever or whatever brought these songs to the Yankees' ears, well, what was your point?

And for the Yankees to actually listen to this babble, and bow down to current PC correctness, again, what is the point?

And let's not forget the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers in all of this mess, a team that Smith was almost a real human mascot for during the latter stages of her life and who has a statue erected for her service to the team--not only is her rendition of the song now banned, but her statue is covered up by tarp!

In 2019, we live in a world where again, the music reflects the times.

The garbage that rules the music scene today is repulsive, suing heinous lyrics full of four letter words and vile images to get its points across.

Funny, I don't hear anybody getting upset over those songs, just songs from 90 years ago. Maybe we should look at our own music and mores first before getting riled up at things that happened when most of us weren't even on this earth.

And if the Yankees are suddenly so sensitive to things that happened when Babe Ruth was the face of the game, then maybe they should look at their own history for things to get riled up about.

Fact: The team began their existence as the Highlanders in 1903, and a few years later, the name was changed to "Yankees." To many in the old south, the term was used in a derogatory way to describe northerners.

Fact: The Yankees were one of the last Major League Baseball teams to have a black player on their roster. Elston Howard was their first black player, coming to the team in 1955--a full eight years after the game had been integrated when Jackie Robinson began his Hall of Fame career with the crosstown Brooklyn Dodgers. Howard would go on to win the American League's Most Valuable Player Award in 1963.

Fact: The Yankees were perhaps the last Major League Baseball team to have a Jewish player on their roster. Ron Blomberg was their first Jewish player, coming to the team in 1969--or more than 90 years after Lipman Pike was the first Jewish professional baseball player. Blomberg would gain notoriety as baseball's first designated hitter.

And if you want to include the Flyers in these facts, just how many players of color has this team had on their roster during the team's existence? And how many black players have actually played in the NHL since its existence?

Look inward before you look outward, and address things within your own organization that need explanations.

I could go on and on and on about discretions within the Yankees themselves that need a bit more study, but why bother? This is 2019, and we are supposedly past all of this.

For someone or something--the Yankees are not saying who alerted them--to dredge up the past like this is not only an insult to Smith and her family and her legacy, but it is an insult to Yankees fans like myself, who have our own brains and use them freely.

This nonsense has got to stop, and it must stop now.

Classic Rant #1,005 (July 17, 2013): New Star Game

The American League defeated the National League in yesterday's annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The result was 3-0, but the game's significance was much more than that.

First, it was a really good "tonic for the troops," so to speak.

With such toxic stuff going on in the real world, it was good to get away and watch something and enjoy it for a change.

This year's game, at New York's CitiField, heralded the old stars being replaced by new stars.

And nowhere was this demonstrated more than with the starting pitcher and the closing pitcher (although he didn't close last night).

Matt Harvey started the game for the National League.

The Mets' new ace is one of the most exciting pitchers to come around in years.

He seems to possess what it takes to make it big, including a command of his pitches, and the temperament to not only play in New York, but to thrive here.

Yes, he did hit Yankee Robinson Cano with a pitch. What's to make the All-Star Game different from the regular season? The Yankees are really snake-bitten this year.

Moving on ...

Then you have the supposed closing pitcher, for the American League.

Mariano Rivera is probably the classiest major league athlete who is still playing, although he has announced that this is his final year.

He has been the game's greatest closer, but now well into his 40s, he is making his final stops at all major league stadiums that the Yankees play in.

He has the attributes that the much younger Harvey--who started watching Rivera as a toddler--now possess: command of his pitches (people say it is just that cut fastball, but he can place that pitch exactly where he wants it most of the time), and the temperament to have played in New York for 19 years, and to thrive here.

No, he didn't close last night, but you could say that when Rivera came in to "Enter Sandman," the game was unofficially over.

It really is the changing of the guard.

There were many, many new stars in the game, first timers who had never been there before, many players in their 20s.

Gone are the days that aging stars made the game because of their past resume, not because of what they had accomplished during the particular season in question.

Last night was a real changing of the guard, and everybody who is into baseball knows it.

And that is fine with me. You have to have new stars, new great ballplayers, to move the game forward.

And you had them here, many, many of them in both leagues, led by Matt Harvey.

I say that is great.

This situation will make for great baseball for the next several years ...

Until those kids playing in high school now are ready to make their own move.

Rant #2,357: Two For the Price of One

Today is a special day for Jews and Christians alike, and the confluence of the day happens more times than you might think.

For Christians, today is Good Friday, one of the holiest dates on the calendar. The day commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus, later leading to his resurrection.

And as the sun sets tonight, Jews around the world will commemorate Passover, which honors Jews as they escaped their Egyptian slavemasters and made their way through the desert in search of freedom.

The confluence of the holidays is not that rare; in fact, it happened just a year ago. And on that day, I wrote my blog entry about this pleasant situation, and it pays to look back at Rant #2,113, dated March 30, 2018, so here it is in edited form:

"Today is Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday, one of the holiest periods on the Christian calendar, honoring the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Tonight, at sunset, is also the first night of Passover, an eight-day celebration centered around the plight of Jews and their liberation by God from enslavement by the Egyptians in biblical times.

It is amazing that these two holidays from two different branches of religion can basically fall at the same time, and in the case of Good Friday and the first night of Passover, the same day.

But it is not as unusual as you might think. I believe this phenomenon last happened in 2015, and before that in 2012, but whatever the case, it does happen, and it is happening this year.

And let's remember, that famous painting of "The Last Supper" is actually one showing Jesus and his disciples at a Passover seder, so yes, the holidays--and the religions, to a certain extent--are intertwined, in particular around this time of year.

I remember as a kid, even though my family is Jewish, we did color our eggs around this time of year. When I was a little kid, my mother would buy the Paas egg-dye kit, and we would dye a couple of eggs. It was fun, but messy as anything, getting into everything, but yes, it was fun.

And before people got hysterical about such things, we used to do the same thing in school, as well as color pictures of Easter bunnies, and hang them on our class walls.

But being Jewish, our holiday was Passover, and I have some great memories of the holiday, from the very religious seders we would have with my paternal grandparents, to the less solemn ones we would have with my maternal grandparents.

I read the traditional Four Questions--"Why is this night different from other nights ... ?--at both seders, and it was done in Hebrew, but let me tell you, each and every word had to be correct at my paternal grandparents' seder, and my sister and I would study the words before we got to the seder, and we would breathe a sigh of relief when we had performed it correctly.

But the onus was clearly on me--being the male child, the first child, the first grandchild, and the one who would carry on the name--to perform it correctly, and I made sure I did just that.

It was because we revered and loved our paternal grandparents so much that we did not want to make an error. My grandmother would have smiled and laughed it off. My grandfather, on the other hand, would not have taken too kindly to it, or at least we didn't think he would.

My sister and I also read it at my maternal grandparents' seder, but really, the pressure was off during their seder. If we made an error, it was no big deal, although I do think they were happy that we were generally able to pull it off year after year without a hitch.

Now, as parents ourselves, my sister and I really get into our own kids reciting the Four Questions, and maybe one day, we will feel the same about our grandkids if we ever become grandparents, something that is not in the offing anytime soon.

I also remember the food, and the lack thereof, when I was a kid.

No, we had plenty of food to eat during the actual seders--too much to eat in fact--but after the seders, what could you munch on when you just felt a wee bit hungry during the other days and nights of Passover?

There was nothing, and I do mean nothing. You could eat matzoh all day, but the dreaded 'matzoh stomach' would then rear its ugly head in your stomach.

You could eat chocolate matzoh and macaroons all day, but I wasn't really a candy eater, so this didn't do much for me.

So, what was a poor boy to snack on?

In about 1965 or 1966, Kosher for Passover potato chips finally made the scene. I am only using those dates because it was when I was eight or nine years old when I first saw them and tried them on for size.

They were chewy, laden with salt, but let me tell you, they were soooooooo good!

And to finally have something to munch on in between meals during the holiday was simply revolutionary!

Today, there are so many things that are Kosher for Passover that you really can choose what you want from so many different items.

Every snack imaginable has been co-opted and made Kosher for Passover, all different types of chips are around for your stomach's content.

There are all different types of "value-added" matzoh, including white chocolate matzoh, and there are as many different types of macaroons as there are cookies.

And once you have one, you have to have another and another.

These things are not just Kosher for Passover, but they taste good too!

And I also become a tuna-holic during this period, eating tuna fish and matzoh for every lunchtime meal. But before that, for breakfast, rather than eat new Kosher for Passover cereals, I eat matzoh and cream cheese.

Oh, what delights! they all taste so good!"

So there you have it. the holidays run parallel, and it is nice to celebrate a holiday where gifts are not the order of the day, your presence is.

So enjoy your holiday, whichever one you follow, have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday ...

Probably with some form of matzoh stomach.

Classic Rant #1,004 (July 16, 2013): Violence For Violence's Sake

And today I read that George Zimmerman's parents have experienced death threats due to the outcome of the trial of their son ...

And I also read that in Los Angeles, protestors are vandalizing stores, attacking citizens, and destroying public property ...

What has this world come to?

Whether you agree with the jury's verdict or not, George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin.

The jury simply didn't believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman murdered Martin in cold blood.

I mean, that is what it is. And no one has to agree with it, but this is what the jury determined.

There will be payback later, in the form of federal and civil trials.

Zimmerman isn't getting off for this, no how, no way.

But then, there are people who have this "lynch" mentality that completely baffles me.

They feel that since justice wasn't served, there is another type of justice to be handed out.

And that justice is basically frying Zimmerman and his family because of what happened.

Funny, that type of justice went out generations ago, or so it seems.

Do the people who are making these types of threats really believe that they are honoring the memory of Trayvon Martin by doing this?

You don't honor a death with violence.

And you certainly don't hand out your own "frontier justice" by these acts.

If nothing else, it makes Zimmerman look better than he probably has every right to believe.

Look, there are really only two people who know what happened that particular evening, and one is gone.

Zimmerman was found not guilty of the charges lodged against him.

It doesn't mean he didn't do it, it just means that he was found not guilty of the charge of murder.

If you don't like the system, try to change it.

But it has been working, warts and all, for well more than 200 years.

Spewing more violence makes no sense.

Yes, in the form of threats, talk is cheap, but to make people constantly look over their shoulders is heinous.

And to attack people, to vent your frustrations out, makes no sense whatsoever.

Protest if you must. Be outraged if you must.

But don't use the death of Trayvon Martin, and the outcome of the trial, to spew further hatred.

Let's all start from square one and move on.

This thing isn't over yet, and let's do this through our legal system.

Rant #2,356: I've Got You Under My Skin

The other day, when I took off a day from this site to attend to a personal matter, I was not kidding; it really was a personal matter.

I had a 7 a.m. appointment--yes, that is correct, a 7 a.m. appointment--to see my dermatologist.

I have been going to see this doctor for about the past two years or so, after I developed a recurring "pimple" on my nose that simply would not go away.

This followed a couple of other "pimples" I had developed in other places that I had removed by my regular doctor, but the recurrence of such spots forced me to go to a skin doctor.

I had that particular lesion removed, and yes, it was pre-cancerous. I have since had other lesions removed; some are just what they call "skin tags," and others have been of the pre-cancerous variety.

This past Tuesday, I had a couple of what the doctor said he thought were pre-cancerous lesions on my scalp, along with one or two on my nose and face, and he also had to remove a more pronounced lesion on my upper right cheek, along with its much smaller counterpart on my left cheek.

I kind of look pock-marked now, but I would rather look that way than have skin cancer.

I have learned that some people are prone to develop these lesions, and I happen to be one of them.

Some of these are just simple viruses, which are what the skin tags are.

Others are potentially cancerous, and I have had several of those removed over the past two years.

The doctor uses what I call a freeze gun, and especially when it is being used on my scalp, it can hurt when the thing is being frozen, but it is not a hurt like getting something chopped off you, like the bigger potentially cancerous lesions are when they are removed.

It is kind of a murky, momentary hurt, not quite a pinch like when you get a shot from the doctor, but something like it, but again, in its own class of pain.

As far as the larger lesion that was removed from my cheek (not shown in the photo), the doctor said his office would get back to me in 10 days to two weeks to tell me about the analysis of that lesion. Hopefully, it was simply a lesion, nothing more, but if not, and it was pre-cancerous, I am glad that it is off me.

If it actually was cancerous, I am sure they will tell me what the next step is.

And I have to give kudos to my doctor friend who lives in South Carolina, who alerted me that I better get that thing checked all these months ago--and I finally did.

If all these lesions weren't enough for me, I also had another one on my upper chest which the doctor said was nothing but a very small wart, which he said if it bothered me, he could remove it right there. Since it doesn't bother me, I declined; enough freezing/cutting for one day.

So if you see me today, I might look like I was in some type of physical fight, because my cheeks are kind of pock-marked, but let me tell you, if all those things leave are scars, I am really, really happy.

Scars are one thing, cancer is another.

I can live with the scars, but cancer? No, on one needs that on their head, or in my case, on my face.

I am sure I will be fine, but understandably, it is upsetting.

I will keep you up to date on what is happening, and I am sure everything is going to be A-OK.

So that is the "skin-ny" on why I took the day off on Tuesday.

Speak to you again tomorrow.

Classic Rant #1,003 (July 15, 2013): Miscarriage of Justice, Or Justice Served?

The judgment came in on Saturday night, and a lot of people are happy, others aren't.

George Zimmerman was found not guilty of all charges in the murder case of Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman, you might remember, was the volunteer neighborhood watchman who reported Martin was in the area, was suspicious, overstepped his boundaries, and ended shooting this kid in what he said was self defense.

Some said that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin, others said that since there were a rash of burglaries in the area, he was doing his job.

However, the only thing that really was proven in this trial was that Zimmerman, himself of mixed race, did overstep his boundaries.

He should have simply called in about the suspicious activity, and let the real police handle it.

Once it went beyond that, the jury found that they could not find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Zimmerman killed Martin in cold blood.

And I have found that that is what people do not understand about this case.

I am not going to argue here about whether Zimmerman murdered Martin or killed him in self defense.

But I am going to talk about whether the jury was correct in its verdict.

And it was.

That is how our judicial system works. You cannot convict somebody of the top crime, murder, if there even is a scintilla of doubt in your mind.

That is what makes our judicial system work better than any other judicial system in the world.

Innocent until proven guilty.

I am not going to say that it is perfect--it isn't.

But in this case, it worked to perfection.

I think the whole problem was that the prosecution's lawyers made a critical error, painting him as something of a choir boy in this whole horrible incident.

I believe that if they exposed Martin as a somewhat nefarious character, which he was, the jury might have gone the other way.

Being a nefarious character does not earn you the right to be murdered, but the prosecution's lawyers were clearly incompetent--much like the lawyers against O.J. Simpson were years ago--and they missed the boat here.

Zimmerman's lawyers were able to play this up, and prove to the jurors that yes, their client may have crossed the line, but when it came down to it, he was defending himself when shots were fired.

So if there is outrage, it should be about the prosecution's lawyers.

People should also keep calm about this.

You can be outraged, upset, or down on what happened, but as you know, there are people out there who are just looking for something to latch onto to spread further violence.

Those people should be made to understand that their actions don't herald Martin's memory, they besmirch it.

What will happen next?

You cannot try a person twice for murder in this country, it is a double jeopardy thing, so Zimmerman cannot be tried again.

However, the case can become a federal one, so yes, I do believe he can be tried again.

And there will almost certainly be a civil lawsuit, and those lawsuits usually even out the playing field, so Zimmerman has simply jumped over the first hurdle here, and probably not his last.

So, in summary, you might not be happy with the jury's verdict, but our judicial system worked to perfection here.

Let's look at it that way, and move on.