Rant #3,972: And When I Die

Hopefully, with my most recent health woes supposedly behind me, I don't have to worry about this possibility just yet, but did you notice that satellite radio was all over this song last week--

And its lyrics were all over social media during the same time, because the song was just so fitting for the passing of a singer who made the song his own--

Although he didn't write it.

Laura Nyro's "And When I Die" seemed just so perfect, so fitting, and so natural for the occasion, as we all learned that David Clayton-Thomas left us late last week.

He was the heart and soul and lead voice of Blood, Sweat and Tears--fashioned after a Winston Churchill saying--who, for about two or maybe three  years, were on top of the musical world, then faded as fast as they ascended.

I personally saw them in concert probably about a half-dozen times--with and without Clayton-Thomas--and they dominated radio airplay in the late 1960s into the cusp of the early 1970s--

And then PFHHT--that was it--even though they continued to produce LPs and were a pretty big concert draw on the oldies circuit.

Clayton-Thomas was a wayward youth in Canada, a petty criminal whose love of music kept him from being just another statistic.

The story goes that during another episode, he found a guitar, learned to play it by himself, and somehow, the burly Clayton-Thomas engaged himself to the burgeoning Canadian music scene in the years prior to acts like the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive making themselves known internationally.

He gravitated to the States, and when Al Kooper left the original Blood, Sweat and Tears over creative matters--Kooper formed the band to meld rock and jazz and horns, but he was not happy with their first album and split--and Clayton-Thomas became the act's lead singer and sometimes songwriter.

And those hits--"Spinning Wheel," "You've Made Me So Very Happy," and yes, "And When I Die"--made the band a very commercial one, but they were one of the headliners of Woodstock and were in heavy rotation on both AM and FM stations.

As the 1960s ended, the bubble burst, and by the early 1970s, Blood, Sweat and Tears were still touring, still putting out records, but the magic had clearly left.

Clayton-Thomas was in and out of the band, he put out numerous solo LPs, but Blood, Sweat and Tears--based on a couple of AM radio hits and about four classic albums--became staples on the oldies circuit, which is where I saw them numerous times.

Yes, their music did meld jazz and rock and pop, but by the time I saw them, it wasn't such a revolutionary thing anymore.

But they persevered, and now their lead singer is gone.

And here is his epitaph, the Laura Nyro song that was one of Blood, Sweat and Tears' biggest hits, with lyrics from the Genius website (https://genius.com/Blood-sweat-and-tears-and-when-i-die-lyrics):

[Verse 1]
I'm not scared of dying
And I don't really care
If it's peace you find in dying
Well then, let the time be near

If it's peace you find in dying
Well, then dying time is near
Just bundle up my coffin
'Cause it's cold way down there
I hear that it's cold way down there, yeah
Crazy cold, way down there

[Chorus]

And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be, one child born in this world
To carry on, to carry on

{​Instrumental}​

[Verse 2]
Now troubles are many
They're as deep as a well
I can swear there ain't no Heaven
But I pray there ain't no Hell
Swear there ain't no Heaven
And I'll pray there ain't no Hell
But I'll never know by livin'
Only my dyin' will tell
Yes, only my dyin' will tell, oh yeah
Only my dyin' will tell

[Chorus]
And when I die, and when I'm gone
There'll be, one child born in this world
To carry on, to carry on, yeah yeah

{​Instrumental}​
Yee-ha

[Verse 3]
Give me my freedom
For as long as I be
All I ask of livin'
Is to have no chains on me
All I ask of livin'
Is to have no chains on me
And all I ask of dyin' is to
Go naturally
Only wanna go naturally

[Bridge]
Here I go, hah!
Hey hey
Here come the devil
Right behind
Look out, children, here he come
Here he come, hey

Don't wanna go by the devil
Don't wanna go by demon
Don't wanna go by Satan
Don't wanna die uneasy
Just let me go naturally

And when I die
And when I'm dead, dead and gone
There'll be one child born in our world
To carry on, to carry on

{​Outro}​

Rant #3,971: Gone, Gone, Gone

A funny thing happened on the way to the local supermarket ...

I went to a local supermarket the other day, because I needed seltzer, which I drink much more than I drink plain water ...

My doctors say that after what I went through, I have to drink plenty of water, and since they said seltzer is OK, too, I went for that drink as my go-to beverage for what ails me.

So I decided to take a short drive to this local supermarket, which I only shop in when I don't want to drive farther away for one or two grocery items.

They are very, very expensive, and when the pandemic started, it was the only place we could get a 24-pack of water ...

Driven up by about double for what it sold for a week before, so yes, they are a price gouger, too.

Anyway, I went to this supermarket for my eight-pack of seltzer, found it, noticed that it was priced at a dollar more than anywhere else, but for convenience sake, I went with it.

Since I had only one item, I went to the self-service area, took out my cash, and was ready to go--

But then I found that none of the self-checkouts took cash anymore.

The store wasn't busy, thank goodness, so I took the seltzer to an open register, where a young cashier was evidently being trained.

I made my cash purchase, received my change, and since a regular cashier was there training this new recruit, I decided to ask a pertinent question:

"Why don't the self-service checkouts take cash anymore? I have used them in the past, they took cash, so why don't they anymore?"

The veteran cashier replied, "It has to do with pennies. We can't get pennies from our bank, so we can't stock the self-checkouts with pennies, so the machines can't give you exact change."

(As you probably know, the federal government has stopped producing new pennies, supposedly because it costs more to produce a penny that it is worth, but the real reason they can get away with this is that a majority of consumers are using debit and credit cards, not cash, to pay for their purchases, large and small.)

I heard this reply, and I said, "Look, that is a poor excuse. Self-checkouts are for customer convenience, so we don't have to wait on lines that are out the door for one item during busier times than this ...

"Further, other supermarkets like X and XX still offer cash self-checkouts, so that really is a poor excuse. You are supposed to be serving your customers, and your aren't doing that with this new policy."

(And yes X and XX still do offer cash self-checkouts--I just used one the other day--but I am not naming them here, as I am not naming the store I was in where I was having this discussion.)

The store manager came over, and reiterated that they cannot get pennies from their bank, so they can't have cash self-checkouts ...

And I reiterated, again, that that was a poor excuse, and that they should switch their bank, because by not having cash self-checkouts, in particular during busy times, the store is forcing people who want to pay cash for one or two items to wait on long lines.

"Switch banks," I said, as I looked at the change the new cashier gave me. "You are not providing convenience to customers with one or two items, forcing them to wait on long lines."

I looked at my hand, where my change was, and I was astonished--

The new cashier shorted me in my change.

"You shorted me in my change," I told him, shaking my head in disgust, as the discussion about the self-checkouts kind of played into what I was saying.

He apologized, gave me my correct change--a situation, of course, that would not have happened if I could have used the self-checkouts to pay cash for my one item, as the machine would have given me exact change, proving my point--and I left, telling the manager--

"Because of your new policy, you have lost me as a customer."

And that was that.

Having reported on this industry for 30 years--the military end of it--I can tell you that supermarkets live--and die--on being convenient for customers.

If you remove one of those conveniences, you are ticking off customers like me, and you are losing customers too.

And while I don't regularly shop this supermarket anyway, I will certainly think twice about going there again if I am forced to either wait on a long line to check out one item or use my debit card at the self-checkout to get out of there with one item in a timely manner.

And I am sure I am not the only one, so whether it is a few of us or a number of us, this supermarket is not going to come off smelling like roses with its new policy.

More like dead fish in its appetizing department, if you ask me.

Rant #3,970: Got To Be Real

I hate to write a Blog entry that is a downer for the final entry of the week, but I feel that I must, based on recent events.

The political events that happened this week in New York City pretty much forced me to say something, anything, about what is going on in this country.

I put many of these thoughts up on Facebook, but it is worth putting them up again here, because it bears worth repeating--

Over, and over, and over again.

If you are a civilized person, a smart person, a Jew or non-Jew, but somebody with convictions, I have to tell you, I honestly don't know how you can vote for anyone running on the Democratic Party line.

These are not the Democrats of JFK and RFK and even the early Chuck Schumer.

This is a party that has been hijacked by so-called Socialists, who look to upend not only their party, but the country too.

These are evil people, and they are doing their dirty work on the backs of admittedly a very ignorant, and at times, a very stupid, electorate.

Certainly that is the case in New York City, and it will be the case all over the country--from sea to shining sea--if it is not nipped in the bud right now.

I spoke about this years ago, people chastised me for saying what I said, but boy--and this is quite unfortunate--I knew exactly what I was talking about.

How anyone can vote Democrat right now is beyond me, and how any Jew can vote Democrat is even more perplexing.

That is not to say that the Republicans are so wonderful, either, but they appear to base their plank on American values, and that is better than what these so-called Democrats are doing.

So here is what I wrote on Facebook. I firmly believe every word of it.

"About the supposed "Democratic" Party ...

I think if the party would just drop the "Democrat" from their name, and simply rename themselves what they are, the Socialist Party, perhaps more people would see what is going on in this country.

These are Socialists, not Democrats, and the term "Democratic Socialist" means nothing, because they are Socialists.

They are out to destroy this country and our values, and they are, unfortunately, succeeding.

Look at New York City. What a cesspool that has become, but that cesspool started to form more than 50 years ago, when the mere mention of "Socialists" would have sent shivers up anyone's spine.

Now, like the anti-Semitism it helps to spread, it has been normalized, and people vote for these individuals without even thinking twice.

If you vote "Democrat," you are actually voting "Socialist," and you are voting for the party of Mamdani, Sanders, Lander, OSC and everyone that would throw you under the bus in an instant.

You are also voting "Thumb's Up" for anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

And don't tell me the Republicans are no better. They might not be wonderful, but they are way better than this.

Deplorable, to say the least."

So there you have it.

Americans have a right to pick and choose their candidates for elected office, and they can vote for whoever they want.

They can vote Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative or for any candidate on the ballot in whatever party they are running in.

But I firmly believe that if you vote Democrat, you are actually voting Socialist, whether you think you are or not.

And Socialism--and Communism--don't wash in the United States.

These are not the days of Gus Hall, who ran for president as a Communist a number of times in the past, and we all laughed at him.

Times are different today, and these Socialist and Communist and anti-American candidates must be taken seriously.

They are looking to uproot our country in just about every way possible, and because of the stupidity of the electorate, they are succeeding.

We cannot let that happen.

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

Rant #3,969: Mixed Up Guy

Now that I am feeling a little bit better about my health, I am doing things that I wouldn't have even attempted a few weeks ago ... 

Although I did start these things, I didn't get too deep into them.

One of the things that I have started to do is to put my massive CD collection in some type of order.

Since we moved a couple of years ago, the CDs that I have--probably several hundred, if not more--have been in a total mess.

We had a lot of them in storage, which ended up compounding the matter, and when we moved to a larger apartment, we could move those CDs back to where they should be, along with the records, the cassettes, the DVDs and tapes, and all of that kind of stuff.

Anyway, we moved them all back, but I concentrated on getting the records--LPs and 45s--in order before I even attempted to get the CDs in some type of order.

So they sat, in a closet in the room where I have the records and computers, and I would look at them on occasion, take one or the other out to listen to, sometimes even add to the collection, but generally, they just sat there in boxes.

With all the records in order, I decided several weeks ago that it was time to get the CDs in some type of order, too.

My wife--who also has a substantial collection of CDs--told me that she had no need for them anymore, so the first thing I had to do was separate her stuff from mine.

We do have many of the same likes, but she enjoys other music that I don't--disco, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, that type of thing--so those had to be separated from my stuff--rock, Beatles, Monkees, etc.

That was a massive task in itself, as I had to go through each and every CD to make sure that I would be able to separate this type of stuff.

When that was done, then came my stuff--

And I have to tell you, I had many, many more CDs than I ever could imagine.

And that total doesn't even include the box sets I have, many of which we took with us when we first moved and are kept in cubby holes in our living room furniture.

So I had all of these CDs ...

Now, what to do with them?

I decided to try to use the same holders that I am using for my 45s, those heavy plastic holders with three draws each.

I can get two rows of CDs in each drawer, but I have to store the CDs on their sides to do it.

It is not ideal, and not an easy task.

I have two of these holders full of CDs, and the way I am going, I am going to need many more to fulfill my goal of putting these things in the proper order.

And I still don't know if this is the right way to go--

Or to just keep them in shoeboxes that are properly marked so I know what is where in an A-Z fashion.

Right now, I have the two holders full to the brim, and I have about six shoeboxes full of other CDs--

And I also have a large plastic crate with several hundred CDs ready to go be filed away in proper order.

What am I to do?

I just don't know at this point.

If the holders were just a bit wider, it would be easier to store the CDs, but they simply aren't.

We don't have the room for those old vertical CD holders that were popular in the 1990s, and they are difficult to find anymore anyway.

So if you have a suggestion--less throwing the whole collection kit and kaboodle into the dumpster--please let me know, as I am quite perplexed by all of this.

I really want to get everything in order ASAP, but I simply do not know what to do.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

What a revolting development this is!

Question Mark and the Mysterians indeed!

Rant #3.968: Nothing From Nothing

I have to tell you right at the outset of this Rant that I have absolutely nothing on my mind to talk about with you today.

End of Rant ...

See you tomorrow.

Not quite.

Look, I am very happy that I don't have to talk about my health anymore, or at least not right now.

I still have some things to address, but right now, I am doing OK.

I talked about the Knicks' championship to death, as I did the parade that followed.

I could talk about my record collection, but I haven't purchased anything lately, so that is kind of out, at least for the moment.

I could talk about a popular Facebook site that I oversee--"Where the Action Is--Yesterday and Today ... And Tomorrow," a site which focuses on the old Dick Clark/"American Bandstand" spinoff, "Where the Action Is," a site which has thousands of followers and can be accessed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/598790963991601 --

But I have spoken about that site many times in the past.

I could talk about my family--I am very proud of my wife and son, and yes, my daughter too--but I always talk about them and say how proud I am of them and how they stuck by me in my darkest days.

I could talk about the Yankees, but right now, I will hold off on that subject, as they are going through a really rough stretch.

I could talk about many other topics, but nothing is really hitting me over the head enough to talk about them here.

So while I go through something of a writer's block--not a bad one, just a little itty bitty one--what do I talk about here that will interest both you and me?

I don't know ...

Let me think about it for a moment or two ...

Or maybe even three.

I do have two weddings coming up in the fall--one for my nephew and one for my daughter--and I did pledge to be as healthy as possible for both of them.

My nephew's wedding is more of a formal wedding, and my son--who is in the wedding party--was measured on Monday for this tuxedo.

My daughter's wedding is much less formal, but I won't get into that now, as it is still taking me time to wrap my head around what she has planned for her big day.

But whatever the case--formal or informal--both occasions should be fun, and will be highlights of the fall--and the year--for myself and my family.

My son is doing well at his job, and he has seen increased hours because of his work habits and his "sticktoitiveness," for lack of a better word.

He is a good worker, and since he has been working since he was 15 years of age, his employers have all known this.

My wife and I are very proud of him.

My wife has retired, but I still work ...

Although I wish I could retire, too.

I really do.

But like I tell people, I am working for my pension, the pension I never was afforded and never had. 

So whatever money I saved up for retirement through the lone 401K plan I ever had during my 40-plus years of working is tied up in the stock market, and you know how up and down the market has been, in particular since the war with Iran began a few months ago.

I guess I could complain about gas prices, and food prices, and how it is impacting my wallet, but we are all in the same boat as far as those things are concerned.

I could tell you that through all the maladies I have had, I am drinking more water than I ever have ...

But I so much prefer seltzer that I regularly go through eight bottles of the stuff in a matter of a few days.

I could tell you that my car is to be worked on on Monday for an un-mandatory recall that Kia has launched itself to better the emissions standards on its cars.

I don't have to do it, but they kept badgering me, so I finally caved in.

I was going to wait for Monday's Rant to do that, but I did it a few days early.

I could talk about all of these things, but none of them are that exciting, so I figured I wouldn't talk about any of them ...

But I guess I just did.

Rant #3,967: I Feel Good!

We reached the one million mark in visits to this site--

So I thank you all very much for your patronage.

It took a long time, but however long it took, we are there--

And well beyond that number now.

Otherwise, now into its third day, this is the first week in many, many months that I can finally breathe a little bit.

No doctors' visits, no surgeries, no procedures ...

No nothing this week.

I do have some responsibilities to fulfill--like work--but other than that, I can actually take in the air and breathe this week.

And while I am still not 100 percent healthwise, like James Brown once said--

"I feel good!"

Honestly, there were times that I didn't think I would get to this point, but right now, I guess I am feeling as good as I possibly can, even with some maladies still in place that will eventually need to be addressed.

But I can certainly live with that, and I can certainly live with the future followups that I am going to have to undertake to make sure that these issues do not come up again--

And I do mean never again.

We are getting older, but that does not mean that we are old, by any stretch of the imagination.

Things have to be taken care of, and I have no problem at all with doing that.

But I just don't want to ever feel like I did for the past several months--

Completely out of sorts and at the beck and call of my doctors.

I do have some really good doctors, so I have no problem with them at all.

But the things that they found wrong with me ...

That is just so much more difficult to reconcile.

And the costs ...

Don't get me started on that.

Yes, good health insurance does help, but the thousands of dollars I have had to pay out of pocket made my wallet as unhealthy as I was.

If you have to rely on Medicare for your health insurance, you are out of luck to begin with, and I am sure Medicaid is no better.

But whatever the case, I survived, and now, I don't want to just survive, I want to thrive.

Everything that was put on hold during the worst of my ailments will be taken care of now that I am feeling somewhat better.

Again, I am not fully there yet, but I am feeling better than I have in a long time.

So, thanks to my doctors, thanks to my family, and thanks to my friends for sticking with me during all this toil and trouble.

Let me tell you, there were times that this 69 year old felt like he was 96, but I got through it all, and hopefully with flying colors.

There are still things that need to be fixed, but for right now, I can finally see the forest for the trees.

I hope to have a nice summer, and I hope that my family has a nice summer with me.

Once we get to the fall, I have to continue to be well, because as I told you in previous Rants, I have a very busy period coming up--

Including the wedding of my daughter ...

So I need to be in top-notch shape for that.

Let me leave it at that ...

And I wish good health to everyone.

Thanks for staying with me through all of this!

Rant #3,966: We Are the Champions (Part 2)

I hope that everyone had a great Father's Day, but my attention in this column is directed at what happened on Saturday.

The day I had been waiting for finally came, where my son and his teammates received their first-place trophies from the Nassau County Police Activities League Special Needs Unit as the top bowling team in its Saturday morning league during the 2025-2026 season.

They managed to win the crown by a scant margin--just two and a half points--but they won, and they won it for the second time in four years.

More about the NCPAL SNU ...

It is unlike any group I know of that is geared to those with physical, mental or emotional handicaps.

It not only centers its aim on sports, but it also has many other programs, including those for computers, yoga ...

You name it, and they have it, and males and females can compete, often together, and have lots of fun.

Like other teenagers and young adults, these people need things to occupy their time, to keep them out of trouble and active, and the NCPAL SNU does just that ...

And it helps the participants make friends, be social, and gives them something to look forward to each and every week of the year. 

It has been a real godsend to my son, who has made friends and has something to do when he is not working.

As for the bowling program, my son has been in it for probably about 14 years or so, or maybe even more, and not only has it proven to be s place where he can socialize and have fun, but it is a place where he has become a pretty good bowler.

This year, he once again led his team in average, with a 143.23 average , which placed him ninth in the league in average.

He tied for the league lead in games bowled--64--with four other bowlers, and his 9,167 total wood--pins--placed him sixth in the league in that category.

His high game this season was 198, the second best on the team, and his high series--343--topped his team.

He had three turkeys--three strikes in a row--which was, I think, the third most on his team.

Yes, he had a very good season, his team had a very good season, and I was just happy that I was able to see him during the last week of the season--a week where players just bowl for fun, prior to the awards ceremony--and during this last game, he bowled a 163.

My son also plays basketball on Friday nights, and that league continues into late July, while the bowling will begin again in September, and at the same time, basketball will rev up for the fall.

So another season has ended, and my son said he had fun, and really, that is the most important thing, and all that counts.

I think the parents of the bowlers are more into the wins and losses, but I do think my son and his teammates--and all bowlers in the league--have something of the competitive spirit in them ...

Maybe not at the parents' level, but it is there.

I know my son is proud of his accomplishments, and my wife and I are tickled pink with what he has done.

As a league bowler, my team won one championship ...

And now my son has two, so he has beaten his old man, and hopefully, will continue to beat me on the lanes.

And yes, at the lanes on Saturday, I wore my Knicks championship T-shirt, and I did mention that my son's team is this league's "Knicks," so to speak.

What a great season, and now, my son--and my wife and I--have a couple of months to rest--

And prepare for the 2026-2027 season in the fall.

I know that I, personally, can't wait!

Rant #3,965: We Are the Champions

The parade ...

It went on as scheduled, and I watched much of it on television, which really was the best place to see all of the festivities.

And most of the reports are that people behaved.

There was trouble when some imbeciles became rowdy when they were turned away from the parade area because the area had reached its agreed-upon capacity.

There were some incidents where fans jumped atop vehicles and broke down barriers, and i heard that there was a slashing and some other fughts, and about two dozen arrests ...

But happily, the negatives were few and far between for the two million people that attended.

You can have fun without causing trouble.

There was one really funny incident.

Little-used Knicks guard Tyler Kolek was approached by police as he was running around in the street, and they briefly stopped him and asked him to go behind the barrier ...

Until they realized who he was.

i guess it is tough being the only white guy on the team--

Ha, ha, ha.

The mayor actually gave a decent speech during the City Hall part of the festivities--I am sure it was written for him, and it went on way too long--and everything seemed to go picture perfect.

Thank goodness!

And funny, I saw plenty of kids at the parade, so I guess those that attended the parade found a way to do it.

And the garbage stayed away, where they belong.

It's over.

Now onto other things ...

Yes, today is Juneteenth, so happy holiday to those who celebrate.

My son gets his first place bowling trophy on Saturday, and I am so proud of him and his team.

Coupled with the Knicks celebration, this is a pretty uplifting time for my family and I.

But the big celebration we have coming up is on Sunday.

That is Father's Day, which my father always said was the holiest day of the year.

It is not "Non-Gestating Parent" day, even though some here in New York--including our brain-dead governor--would want us to believe that.

It is Father's Day, and that is the way it is, and will always be.

We celebrate fathers and fatherhood that day, and it is always one of my favorite holidays of the year.

My son has to work on Father's Day, so my family and i will celebrate the holiday a little differently this year.

We will go out to breakfast, and later in the day, we will have a barbecue, and we will heat up the hot dogs and hamburgers and chicken for my son when he gets home from work.

So it will be a very low-key day, but it is kind of fitting this time around.

I have to tell you, there were times I doubted myself during the past few months, but my family helped me keep having confidence in myself.

So this Father's Day will be an extra special day for me.

So maybe everything will be going in the right direction during the second part of 2026.

I have lots of other challenges to surmount, but I feel that maybe I have turned a corner...

We shall see.

But this is a really good start.

Have a great weekend, have a great Father's Day, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

And come to think of it, this is the final Father's Day that I will only be a "father."

With my daughter getting married in October, not only will I be a "father" during the 2027 celebration, but I will also be a "father-in-law" when we celebrate the holiday a year from now.

Will I ever be a grandfather?

Stay tuned, same Bat time, same Bat channel for an answer to that question.

Rant #3,964: Don't Rain On My Parade

After Tuesday's procedure, I am feeling pretty good ...

Not perfect, but good.

I don't have any pain sitting, standing, or doing anything else.

I actually wore shorts for the first time since last year, when I didn't know what 2026 would bring.

I did my exercises for the first time in many weeks, as it was just too painful to do them before this procedure.

And I finally was able to take my vitamins; I couldn't take them prior to the procedure because they are considered to be blood thinners.

So everything is pretty good in Larryland right now, although I know that there are things that still have to be done to make me whole--

And those are things I will have to deal with sometime soon, but not right at this moment.

There really isn't much more to say about it--

I am kind of in a "watch" period now, and I will see how I really am by the weekend to determine whether I am really back together the way I should be.

And then I might be able to make some future plans.

But let's not put the cart before the horse.

I am better, but let me see what the level of "better" really is.

And today, New York City is having its parade for the Knicks, and it is full of controversy.

Why did they set it for Thursday, and not on Friday?

Kids have to take Regents exams and other tests today--

Why did they set the parade for today knowing that a lot of kids won't be able to show up because they have to take these tests?

Well, the answer is simple, but few want to say it out loud.

It is because tomorrow, June 19, is the Juneteenth national holiday.

You can't have the parade squarely on Friday, because it might impede Juneteenth festivities and celebrations.

And you have to get everyone together while the iron is hot, so Thursday was the logical day to have the celebration.

In addition, adults who decided to skip work today to attend the parade now have a tidy, four-day weekend to enjoy.

Sure, the kids are kind of being left out of this, but educational testing--a building block leading up to a successful future--is way more important than attending the Knicks parade.

And you can bet that thousands of kids will be there anyway; it's not like the millions of kids, in totality, in New York City and the surrounding areas, would be at the parade anyway.

Perhaps the hidden meaning to having the parade on Thursday is that it might just protect some kids from any idiotic behavior and violence that might ensue during the parade.

Nobody will say this, but I will--

What happened during the watch parties was absolutely horrendous, made New York City and its citizens look very bad to a worldwide audience, and put law enforcement in great danger.

Do you want that to happen during the victory parade?

Do you want any kid--or anyone--assaulted, hurt, or even worse--on this grand stage?

I think New York City got it right this time ...

Having the parade today is a godsend that people don't even realize.

Yes, the watch parties were at night, when some revelers were so inebriated that they did things that were unconscionable. 

But the city, obviously, doesn't want to take a chance that they could have a repeat during the day, and on a school day yet.

And that is why the parade is on a Thursday and not on Friday.

I doubt you will read this anywhere else but here, because people are so afraid to say the truth.

I am not.

Look, honestly, I wouldn't go, even if I was 1,000 percent healthy.

I haven't been to a New York City parade since my grandfather took myself and my sister to the Thanksgiving Day Parade more than 60 years ago.

I have witnessed other parades in person when I worked in Manhattan--the St. Patrick's Day Parade comes to mind--but it was a work day for me, and I worked right off of Fifth Avenue, so I saw it whether I wanted to or not.

I am not a big parades person, but I understand the significance of these parades, and the pride that they demonstrate, whether you are of a certain ethnic group or a fan or simply a spectator.

But parades are not for me, so no, I won't be at the parade today.

And, hopefully, others won't be at the parade who would turn a fun day into total chaos.

God help the NYPD during this day.

I hope that New York and its environs have a great, joyous day.

Me, I will probably watch some of it if I have the time, since every TV channel in the New York Metropolitan Area will seemingly be pre-empting their regular programming to cover it.

I just hope the parade goes as well as my recent medical procedure.

No hiccups ...

No stupidity ...

No nothing--

Other than fun.

Rant #3,963: Tattoo You

Yesterday was a big day for me.

In this seemingly never-ending odyssey to good health, I had something removed from my body that I didn't need anymore, and its removal has put me on the path to being healthy for the first time in months.

It was tortuous, but it was done, and maybe now--with a few things still in my way to total healthiness--I can get back to where I should be, and get my life back.

And as you see above, one of the ways I am trying to get my life back is to root for the Knicks and Yankees, and the Knicks winning the NBA championship was clearly the first step in doing this, and as I told you the other day, I was lucky enough to find a T-shirt that shows where I stand with the team being triumphant during the 2025-2026 season.

T-shirts are probably the easiest way to show your love for something, and is so much better than things like a tattoo to show your pride in your team or cause or whatever.

(Let me interject that i don't understand tattoos to begin with, and would never get one for any reason, but that is just me; my daughter has them, my nephews have them, other relatives of mine have them, but it is your skin, and you can do with it what you want, but it's my skin, and I have no need for them.)

I saw a couple of photos on Facebook about people who have completely gone overboard in their pride of being a Knicks fan--

With tattoos all over their faces signifying their love for this team.

And I mean all over their faces, with some of the tattoos being as big as the basketballs that the Knicks shot and won with.

This is just a game ...

Your body is way more important, and to mess up God's creation with tattoos all over you--and on your face yet--really is sickening.

Yes, these are young people who have not experienced the world yet.

Do they realize that these tattoos are, one day, going to stop them from being taken seriously?

I wouldn't hire someone who is "adorned" this way, and I don't think other people with more authority than I have would, either.

And what happens, heaven forbid, if the Knicks don't win for another 53 years?

By the time these people are in their 70s, that tattoo will look even more ridiculous than it does now.

Their only hope is if tattoo removal becomes commonplace in the next decades, and with so many people with these garish graffiti marks all over them, I think that this probably will happen.

The folly of youth, I guess.

So again, what is better than a T-shirt to demonstrate what team you love?

Put it on, like I did yesterday, take it off, like I did yesterday, wash it and and wear it another day.

A T-shirt isn't permanent; but it demonstrates happiness and fan loyalty.

And it isn't as garish as a ridiculous face tattoo, which can't come off so easily, if at all.

I have T-shirts of my favorite sports teams, concerts I have been to, places I have visited.

And I put them on, and take them off when I am done with them.

Yesterday, I wore a T-shirt that I picked up in Bermuda when my family visited there on one of our cruises.

We had fun there, and when I am done with the shirt, it comes right off, gets washed, and I can wear it again.

You have a tattoo like some of these people are getting, putting it all over their faces ...

Were they high, were they drunk, were they engulfed in Red Bull when they decided to do this?

And the tattoo artists ... I hope they tried to persuade these dolts to not get this done, certainly not on their faces--

But I guess they failed.

Me, I will take my T-shirts over tattoos any time.

The only ink I want to have anything to do with is when I see my work, and/or my name, in print.

Rant #3,962: Cloud Nine

I don't know about anyone else, but I am still relishing in the glow of the Knicks' run to the NBA championship ...

And couple that with my son's team's championship in their bowling league on the same day--

Well, I am on Cloud Nine right now.

Physically, I am feeling much better--and much more positive--about my health, too, and yesterday and today were important days in my recuperation.

On Monday, I had a KUB scan, to determine that what was supposedly removed from me is out of there.

And things appear to have looked good on that scan.

And today, I will have another procedure to bring me back to, hopefully, where I should be.

But the entire hoopla around the Knicks really has made me more positive in myself.

In fact, while I don't yet feel 100 percent, on Sunday, I went out, among a myriad of minor errands, to get a Knicks championship T-shirt for myself.

I had already ordered shirts for my wife and son online--they will get them sometime in July, as the demand is overwhelming what they have on hand--but I figured since I was out, I would drive over to a local sporting goods chain store to see what was available--

Or really, what was left.

I got there, the parking lot was full of cars, and I kind of knew there would be slim pickins, if anything at all, to purchase.

And I was correct in my assumption.

The store had one empty table after another of Knicks championship merchandise, and it wasn't just me that was looking--

Plenty of people in the store were looking for the same thing that I was.

I meandered about, and then I came to an area--not a set of tables--that had Knicks merchandise--

The operative word is "had," because it was just about all gone too.

But toward the back of the section, I saw three championship shirts hanging there.

Some people looked at them and walked away, but when I got there, I found gold.

The three shirts were the same, but were listed as XXL--extra extra large--and they were long-sleeved.

They had the requisite logos and everything else on them, so I picked one of the three and went with it ...

Knowing what a lot of people apparently don't, that "XXL" is not what it appears to be.

With so many items like this being made overseas, today's "XXL" is really nothing more than between a "large" and an "extra large," which is perfect for my body, even though I have lost nearly 25 pounds over the past couple of months.

So the shirt would be perfect for me, and I grabbed it, paid for it, and I was out of there, successfully.

I wore it on Monday, and it was as I expected, maybe at best an "extra large," and after it gets washed ...

I do expect shrinkage.

So I got what I came for, and it made me feel even better--

Although the prices are ridiculous, but that is another matter for another time.

And remember how in yesterday's Rant I bemoaned how Newsday treated the Knicks championship on the cover of its Sunday edition, pairing it with an X-rated topic piece that kind of made their cover a bit embarrassing?

Well, they atoned for their sins on Tuesday, with a four-page wraparound cover that was all about the Knicks.

I don't recall them ever doing that before, so I am sure that I wasn't the only one who was not happy with the Sunday cover.

See the photo above.

So right now, all is good, I am getting better myself, and if everything goes according to plan, I can put what ails me fully behind me and move on to something more positive.

Of course, the operative word is "if," but right now, the Knicks' win has forced myself to believe that anything is possible--

So maybe I, myself, can finally shoot a winning three-pointer and get my life back to where it should be.

Let me get through today, and we shall see.