Classic Rant #1,067 (October 21, 2013): Pumplin Pickin'

My family and I decided to celebrate the season, and we went pumpkin pickin' yesterday.

No, we didn't actually pick the pumpkins, but we went to a local nursery and purchased several pumpkins to spruce up our house with.

The nursery, Hick's, has been around forever, and they put on a real good show during this time of season.

They have pumpkins all over the place, and people bring their kids, their very young kids, because of everything else that goes on there during this time of year.

They have a petting zoo, have hay rides, you can buy popcorn and lots of other food and drink there, and it really is one big party.

I remember when my kids were small, we took them to the haunted house there. It really wasn't that scary, but my kids loved it.

Hick's really makes the season fun, and makes it fun to shop there amidst everything else going on there.

And you need that, because I cannot believe the prices on stuff there.

In the old days, you couldn't give away pumpkins.

Today, pumpkins that they had there cost anywhere from a few dollars for the really small ones up to $18-20 and up for the larger ones.

And all the other finery of the day--the haystacks, the ornaments of the season ... well, you better have some big bills handy, because they don't cost pennies anymore.

My wife and I were talking about this very subject while we were there and on the way home.

This is prime time for these places.

Not only do people buy things for Halloween, Thanksgiving and the season, but they buy other things during this time of year.

Along with the pumpkins, we bought mums, too.

So nurseries count on this season to help them meet, and exceed, their annual bottom lines.

And as you know, since adults got into Halloween, they have corrupted the season, anyway, and Halloween is very, very big business for not only nurseries, but for costume stores, party stores and the like.

That is how it is now, big business colliding with fun, and I guess that is how it is going to be for now on.

But anyway, we bought our pumpkins, our mums, and I got out of there spending less than $40.

It could have been worse, but we really watched ourselves there.

And now, with all the pumpkins around and other stuff my wife puts up, it really looks like Halloween.

Now we just need some kids to come to our door on the holiday for candy, and it really will feel like the season.

Just five weeks to Thanksgiving (and Hanukkah this year too!).

Rant #2,421: Bad to the Bone

Those shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, were horrid displays of mass destruction perpetrated by mentally ill people.

Now that that statement has been made--and I do believe that most people in whatever political spectrum they exist in would agree with that statement--the next thing we have to do as a society is to figure out why these things are happening, and what we can do to stop them from happening again.

I am going to say this up front, because it is what I firmly believe: I do not understand why people, ordinary people like you and me, need to own guns. They are weapons, first and foremost, and their use often leads to horrible consequences.

Let's leave the firearms to our police officers, who are trained and know what they are doing with these weapons.

I know, the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms, but this is not 1776, this is not the Wild West, this is America 2019, and this need to have a weapon--yes, those obtained legally--in our stead at all times just doesn't wash today like it did generations ago.

That being said, if we have the right to bear arms, then we have the obligation to be able to parcel out these weapons in an effective, safe manner. Allowing people to walk into a gun store and purchase one weapon after another with lax background checks is not the answer, and certainly does not help us to fulfill our obligations to both bear arms and keep those arms safe, only to be used in the most extreme of circumstances.

It is so easy to blame our politicians specifically for what happened over the weekend, but that is really kind of like "passing the buck" and not addressing the problem at all.

Those perpetrating these horrible incidents were mentally ill, and you cannot blame politicians for the mental state of these people.

But politicians must be taken to task for not agreeing on stricter laws on the purchase of firearms nationwide.

Personally, beyond my skepticism at why normal citizens need to bear arms, I believe that we need stronger laws in place on a national level to prevent such acts from happening again.

I think we need much stronger background checks that delve into every aspect of the gun purchaser's history, and I mean literally from day one of that person's life.

In order to do such a history, it has to take time, and the immediate purchase of such weapons should be abolished, whether the purchase is being made at a gun store, a gun show, or from a collector.

Since time is needed to do such background checks, I would say that each firearm purchased leads to a minimum two-year armistice from getting that gun.

You purchase a weapon today, August 5, 2019, then you cannot get your weapon until a background check is completed by August 5, 2021--and it doesn't matter whether the purchaser is a long-time gun enthusiast or a newbie, you have to wait two years to get that weapon.

That would also provide something of a cooling off period for those looking to do damage with such a weapon. Yes, those perpetrating these two heinous deeds over the weekend were obviously mentally ill, and perhaps if they weren't allowed to pick up their weapons so easily, it would cool them down and give themselves time to think about what they were doing.

Again, these were mentally ill individuals, so two years of waiting could make things worse, but nobody should be able to purchase a gun and literally walk out with one, like they just got a new haircut.

I think we need national laws to address this, Yes, there a plenty of good people who simply feel the need to have a gun in their possession. I honor their right to do this, even though I do not understand their motivation in wanting to own a gun.

But there are plenty of people in this world who should stay as far away from purchasing guns as possible. Their mental state alone should prohibit them from doing so, and a background check--and I mean a really thorough one--is absolutely necessary.

And how one builds up an arsenal like these guys had ... how were they able to do this without any red flags going up?

I don't get it, but something must be done to stop this and to prevent further bloodshed.

We cannot have anybody feel uncomfortable whether they are in a school, a place of worship, or whenthey are out shopping or seeing a movie.

It makes no sense to fear for your lives in such situations, and we simply need stronger gun laws, which will not penalize those who want to own guns, but will simply make it a bit more difficult to buy guns and get them swiftly and in the hands of those who really should not be owning any firearms.

We need to do this to protect the citizens of this country and to preserve our quality of life.

And we need to do it now.

Classic Rant #1,066 (October 18, 2013): What I Like

As you read yesterday, I do not like the annual nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

They never ring true to me, never demonstrate to me that the people that vote on performers who they think belong in this thing have any clue about what they are voting on.

No, I don't like that.

But there are many things that I do like, so I decided to make a list of my likes.

Maybe you will find some of your likes on this list, too.

I like "Retro" television: I much prefer the old TV shows to the new ones, and to me, the old ones are much better written, have better characters, and are simply more interesting than the new shows that are out there today.

Every day, I record shows like "Bachelor Father" and "My Three Sons," shows that are so well crafted that you have to ask yourself, when was it that TV fell off the cliff like it has.

I like baseball and basketball: No, I am not happy that the Yankees are not in the playoffs this year, but I just enjoy watching baseball. It is the purest of all the major sports, and really, the most dramatic. It has the longest season, and during those 162 games in 180 days, just about anything can happen, and often does.

Basketball is another great sport, not up there with baseball, in my eyes, but a great sport nonetheless. Sure, I root for the forever hapless Knicks, but this is the sport featuring perhaps our top all-around athletes, and on the excitement level, it is at the top of the scale.

I like my car: When I bought my Kia, or actually financed it, more than five years ago, I really did it out of desperation. I really didn't have very much money, but my 13-year-old car had finally died, and I needed a vehicle badly.

My Kia Spectre--a model they don't even make anymore--hasn't given me the least bit of trouble. I have taken it up and down to Orlando several times, and it has held up with nary an incident. I would by another Kia in a flash now. They are not flashy, but they are well-put-together vehicles that give you everything they have, and more.

I like Lance cracker snacks: At work, sometimes I need something to get me through the day, and although I don't munch that much at work, I always bring with me Lance cheese crackers with the peanut butter filling inside.

They give me a great pick-me-up, and they are one of those little things that I liked as a kid and I still like as an adult. For a light snack, they are perfect until I get to lunch, and I buy them for $1 at our local Dollar Store ...

I like Dollar Stores: You do save lots of money shopping Dollar Stores, and my family and I have shopped them for years. Sure, you can't buy all of your groceries there, but you can buy snacks, some health and beauty care products, paper goods, and many other things there.

And you never know what they are going to stock during a particular week, so it is almost akin to having fun while you shop. They now carry lots of major brands, so if you know what you are shopping for, you can save plenty of money shopping these stores in concert with shopping the regular supermarket.

I like to write: Can't you tell? I can write many people under the table, but the very existence of this blog has to do with the fact that I can write all day at work--which is what I do for a living and what pays my bills--and write this blog too.

Some people, particularly on Facebook, do not understand this, look at me as a self promoter because I do put up links to this blog on that social networking site. That is only to drum up visits here. I genuinely enjoy writing, always have, and probably, always will. I just hope that you enjoy what I am writing, too.

And moving to the next level, there are things that I truly love.

I love my wife, my son, my daughter, my parents and my overall little family.

But I think if you read these columns, you already knew that.

Rant #2,420: Fly Like An Eagle

Today is August 2, and today, we remember Thurman Munson, who perished on this day 40 years ago.

Munson's tragedy is right up there, maybe not as high as when President Kennedy succumbed to his wounds, but certainly up there with the Challenger tragedy as a defining moment in many people's lives, one they would rather not have experienced.

It was 1979, and New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson was one of the best players in baseball. The former Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player established himself as a superstar, but Munson was a gruff person, even with the spotlight shone on him as the captain of the Yankees.

Munson was a family man, and he missed his family in Ohio greatly during the long baseball season. To try to temper that, he learned to fly a plane, and when days off came about, he would fly back and forth from New York to home to be with his family. He had purchased a Cessna Citation jet for this purpose.

He had had his pilot license for about a year when tragedy struck. To hone his piloting, he would often spend afternoons before home night games or on off days practicing taking off and landing, and on the afternoon of August 2, in Canton, he was doing just that, with his flight instructor and a friend on board

On his final landing of the day, he had some major trouble landing, and lost control of the plane. It crashed, and while the two men were cognizant and able to escape, Munson was evidently pinned under the rubble of the plane--I believe the force of the crash also broke his back and paralyzed him--and although the two men tried to get Munson out, flames were spreading in the plane, and they had to leave it to preserve their own safety.

Munson soon succumbed, and word spread quickly about what had happened.

Unlike the JFK and Challenger disasters, I do not remember clearly where I was or what I was doing when I heard what had happened. I was at home, so I assume I was watching television when the news broke--and once it did, I remember very clearly that I was on the phone with my friend, also a big Yankees fan, and we talked for hours about Munson.

I suppose I wasn't alone in doing this. Baseball fans from all over the world mourned that day, and it became even more difficult weeks later when we found out that an investigation showed that it was pilot error that caused the crash. Munson simply did not have enough time in the air as a pilot to maneuver such a plane safely.

But let's go back to early August 1979, right after the tragedy struck. I remember that the local New York channels gave almost full coverage of Munson's funeral, which was attended by the Yankees team and staff.

The Yankees were about ready to start a series with the Baltimore Orioles when Munson perished, and the team decided to play the first game of the four-game set, which I believe was set for the day after Munson died.

The game was nationally telecast by ABC, and was as different a game as I have ever seen before or since.

Before the top of the first inning, each Yankee starter lined up at their respective position, and took off their caps, save the catchers position, which remained empty.

Prior to the game, owner George Steinbrenner retired Munson's No. 15, and I believe that that was announced to the crowd as the players took their positions.

If I remember correctly, a moment of silence was asked for, Terrence Cardinal Cooke made a short eulogy, and Robert Merrill sung "America the Beautiful."

Yankee players were crying, in particular Lou Pinella and Bobby Murcer, Munson's two best friends on the team.

Right after Merrill, 51,000 people in attendance gave Munson an eight-minute standing ovation which would have gone longer if Bob Sheppard was not given the go ahead to say, "Now it is time to play ball," and catcher Jerry Narron ran onto the field to take Munson's open spot as catcher.

There wasn't a dry eye in the stadium that day, nor at home, as the Yankees won the game 5-3. Murcer had one of the greatest individual performances I had ever seen in a game, driving in all five runs with a homer and a game winning single. I don't think that he had stopped crying the entire game, and I believe he ended up giving his bat for the game to Diane Munson, the catcher's widow.

And until the new Yankee Stadium opened, Munson's locker remained in the Yankee clubhouse, never used by another player again.

Munson is not in baseball's Hall of Fame, as he should be, and every few years, there is a groundswell effort to get him inducted into the hallowed shrine. This year, the 40th anniversary year, was no exception, and there is some hope that the oldtimers committee will finally induct Munson the next time they have a vote.

During his relatively short career, Munson was a .292 hitter, he had a rifle arm, and he was truly the heart and soul of the team. I hope that one day, sometime soon, he and his family get their due, and he does go into the Hall of Fame.

He deserves it. He was that good.

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

Classic Rant #1,065 (October 17, 2013): Nothing Is New

"Beatniks and politics
Nothing is new
A yardstick for lunatics
One point of view"

That's a line from one of the great songs of the 1960s, "Incense and Peppermints," by the Strawberry Alarm Clock.

And it fits perfectly in describing what the yearly nominations for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are all about.

Business as usual for this joke of a Hall of Fame that sits in Cleveland, Ohio.

Yesterday, the nominations for the Class of 2014 were announced, and while I will give it that it is an eclectic mix of performers, sorry, it still does not meet the criteria that I believe the HoF should follow.

The bar has been lowered once again.

We have the following acts nominated:
Nirvana
Kiss
Hall and Oates
Replacements
Meters
Linda Ronstadt
N.W.A.
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Deep Purple
Peter Gabriel
LL Cool J
Cat Stevens
Link Wray
Yes
Zombies

Yes, eclectic, as I said.

No, vital, cutting edge, sorry, no, no, no.

If I had a ballot, I would give the nod to the Zombies--for their jazz influenced pop and rock, a sound that set the table for such later mixtures like that by Chicago, another band that should be in but isn't--Linda Ronstadt--more about her later--and perhaps Peter Gabriel and maybe even Hall and Oates, but that is about it.

But, of course, I don't have a vote, so all I can do is Rant and Rave here.

The rest either aren't rock and roll and/or simply don't deserve a nod, or a wink for that matter.

Now to Linda Ronstadt.

The criteria for the HoF is supposedly somebody who was a trendsetter with their music, and influenced countless others with this music, and certainly, Linda Ronstadt fits that bill.

But nominating her this year is going lower than low, as far as I am concerned.

Ronstadt has been making records since at least 1967. You might remember that her first big hit was "Different Drum," written by Mike Nesmith of the Monkees--two more HoF no-shows--while she was with the Stone Poneys.

Since the criteria says that a performer has to have been recording for at least 25 years to get in, she has been eligible since 1992.

Why has she been nominated now?

Well, as you know, she announced a few weeks ago that she has Parkinson's Disease, and that she cannot sing anymore.

So, don't you think the HoF is kind of exploiting this unfortunate occurrence by nominating her now?

Where have they been since 1992?

The other nominations are acts that don't belong in the HoF, but there are other acts that get snubbed regularly, and that list includes:

Chicago
Moody Blues
Monkees
Mike Nesmith
Paul Revere and the Raiders
Lesley Gore

And the list goes on and on ...

Jann Wenner, publisher of Rolling Stone magazine and the guy who oversees this nonsense, has a hatred for many of the acts that were popular from 1960 to about 1968. He feels that many of them were corporatively created, let's say, and that is why he started Rolling Stone anyway, as he thought this music was getting too corporate for its own good.

Thus, acts like the Monkees, in particular, and the Raiders will never get in, because he looks at them as tools of larger organizations, corrupting this music.

Of course, Rolling Stone has not been a relevant rock and roll publication for years, because it has, itself, caved into the pressures, and the money, of corporations, too.

So you have an interesting dichotomy here, not wanting to bite the hand that feeds you but biting it anyway.

The Hall of Fame is a joke, most music fans know it, and it will always be one, until the powers that be really make it into a true, rock and roll Hall of Fame, and not a place where favorites are picked over substance, and where the public is consistently shut out of the process.

And yes, I do enjoy the Strawberry Alarm Clock, but they, too, don't belong in the HoF based on the strength of a single, wonderful song ...

Although if they ever get a nod, it might be when pigs fly, or rabbis eat ham.

Rant #2,419: Summer In the City

Welcome to the summer doldrums.

We have finally reached August 1, the 213th day of the year--in leap years, it is the 214th day of the year--and we are officially in what many call the "dog days" of summer.

Why is this period called the "dog days" of summer? What do dogs have to do with it?

I believe it has to do with a latin phrase, but you can bet it refers to how dogs laze around when it is hot and sultry outside, panting to make themselves cool.

That might be an unfair reference as far as dogs are concerned, but we also have the phrase "three dog night," which refers to using dogs to make warmth during bitter cold evenings, so the dogs it is.

You won't find that with cats, that's for sure.

Anyway, since we have established that it is the "dog days" of summer--when it is ultra-hot outside and all anyone wants to do is to either go swimming or laze around in the air conditioning--what does one do during these "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" to stay cool, or at least, be cool.

Well, one can eat mustard flavored ice cream.

Yes, French's, best known for its yellow mustard but also the maker of other condiments, is releasing mustard ice cream this Saturday, but you can only get it in New York and Los Angeles.

Why anyone would want a mustard-flavored icc cream is beyond me, but I guess the thought is that you eat your summer hot dog with French's mustard all over it, so it is an almost natural progression to go for a dessert of mustard-flavored ice cream.

As repulsive as this sounds, I bet it is as big a seller as Burger King's bacon ice cream of past summers ... which means if you want it, you better get it now, because it ain't gonna be around for too long.

Once you have had your mustard flavored ice cream, what else can you do to stay cool?

Well, baseball is as American as apple pie--sorry, soccer isn't even on the map, no matter how hard the media pushes it--so why not watch some baseball?

The races are really heating up in the major leagues this summer, and then there are the also rans, the teams that had no chance from day one, and have been putting up loss after loss to justify that belief.

If you have to pick one team to watch while you devour your mustard flavored ice cream, it has to be the Baltimore Orioles.

This team--one of baseball's best from the 1960s through the 1990s--has fallen on the hardest of times, and it looks like they are once again on the path to lose well more than 100 games this season.

The Orioles have baseball's worst record at 36-71, so if you project that over a full season, they will wind up with about 54 wins this season, which would give them 108 losses.

Last season, they lost an incredible 115 games, ending up at 47-115, so if they continue at their present pace, they will win seven more games than last year, so at least you can say that they are an improving team, I guess.

And once you are done with the Orioles and the ice cream, what can you watch on television in your air conditioned dwelling--you will certainly need some comfort after watching the Orioles and eating mustard flavored ice cream.

Well, since there isn't much on to watch that even mildly piques ones' interest in the doldrums of summer, why not watch one of TV's all-time most popular shows in reruns.

If nothing more, you can chill out while you watch the actors parade around in heavy suits and long dresses. That should keep you cool when you are in court with "Perry Mason."

The show has become the fall-back program for my wife and I when there is absolutely nothing on TV to watch, and since it ran for nine years on CBS, from 1957 to 1966--all in black and white except for one episode--you can find plenty to watch by tuning into this series, which is being shown by several retro networks this summer, including MeTV.

In the series, popular Los Angeles lawyer Perry Mason, and his veritable staff including legal secretary Dells Street and Paul Drake, the private investigator with connections up the wazoo, take on one case after another.

When one needed a top-flight lawyer, Mason was the one, a veritable legal super hero who was impervious to the bullets shot at him by district attorney Hamilton Burger.

I mean, over nine years, Mason lost just one case, and he did it all in black and white, wearing heavy suits that made Raymond Burr look even more imposing than he really was.

But if you want to watch the veritable mother of all court dramas, this is it, and it is on seven days a week.

So there you have it, several ways to keep cool during the dog days of summer.

I mean, you could simply take a cool drink, but heck, everyone does that, and it is so easy to do.

Try watching the Orioles while you eat you mustard flavored ice cream ...

Yes, that would certainly be a case for Perry Mason to solve--

How can one person do those two things at once without choking to death?

Classic Rant #1,064 (September 16, 2013): New York "Spurts"

New York sports really aren't very good at the moment, and yes, I did use the word "spurts" purposely, because that is the state of our professional teams here.

They give us hope, generally play well in spurts, but ultimately, they are pretty bad.

The Yankees and Mets seasons are long over.

Neither made the playoffs, which for the Mets, is an annual failure.

For the Yankees, it is just the second time in 19 years that they haven't been in the postseason.

Although I am not a football fan, both the Giants and Jets aren't very good either.

The Jets are at best a .500 team, while the Giants have yet to win a game with more than one-third of their season over.

I am not a hockey fan either, but the Devils and Rangers don't appear to be very good, and the Islanders, well, they have one foot in Brooklyn already.

The only hope this year is in basketball, where the Nets and Knicks look to be pretty decent teams.

The Nets are trying to make their second year in Brooklyn a championship year, stocking themselves up with former Boston Celtics.

The Knicks are coming off their best season in two decades, and any team with Carmelo Anthony has to be reckoned with.

Of course, that is what I am saying now.

These two teams can go down the chute, too, as most New York teams do.

With all the media coverage, the frenzy, and the mania for the four top professional sports in New York, our teams really aren't very good historically.

The Jets haven't won the Super Bowl since 1970, the Mets haven't won anything since 1986.

The Islanders haven't been relevant since the 1980s, and the Devils and Rangers go through good spurts and bad.

The Knicks haven't won a championship since 1973, and the Nets were great in the ABA, but pretty mediocre in the NBA.

The only teams that really have made a statement as champions are the Giants and Yankees, two teams with long histories of winning.

But they won't win anything this year.

As a Yankees fan, sure, I am spoiled by being a fan of the most successful franchise in American sports history.

When they have a poor year, like they did this year, I just have to take it as an anomaly, and look forward to next year.

The Brooklyn Dodgers always did that. "Wait 'til next year!" their fans always cried.

And yes, I am crying, figuratively, this year, because New York sports aren't very good.

Let's go Knicks!

I say that with a bit of resignation.

This just isn't New York's year.