Classic Rant #1,147 (February 19. 2014): Full Bodied

Amidst the snow, the despair, the back pain, the what have you, there is always an oasis to go to during the winter months that makes everything feel a bit warmer than it really is.

And that is the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

The covers for the issue were released yesterday, and with a "flip" cover, which is actually a double cover, you can pick the type of model that you like the best, I guess.

On what is the front cover, you have a picture of three topless models cavorting together.

Each one of them looks like they haven't eaten in about a year.

They are as skinny as Olive Oyl, and no, you don't see anything, of course, but these girls look like they are in need of a hamburger.

Quite honestly, they look bullimic to me, barely there.

Sickening, to me.

Then you turn to what is the back cover, and you get someone who, well, I only have to say her name. That is all you need to know.

Kate Upton.

Ms. Upton, with all the airbrushes and such, is perfectly proportioned.

She has curves in all the right places, with a very pretty face, too.

She not only hasn't missed any meals, whatever she has eaten has gone to the right places.

She is wearing a bikini that appears to be either pasted on or painted on, so no, you don't see anything, but you see enough, if you get my drift.

You could not possibly have her with the other three models because she would look out of place with the three stick figures.

Yes, I am a male chauvinist pig, and I don't mind saying it.

But in this country, where eating disorders are rampant among teenage girls who want to fit into what they consider to be the norm, I find the first cover sickening, the back cover refreshing.

Of course, I am looking at this from a male perspective, and I am sure that many males would disagree with me about this.

And many females too.

But give me Kate Upton, and a woman with real curves, any day over stick figures.

To me, the first cover is unhealthy, the second is perfect.

And this issue supposedly includes something about Barbie--yes, the doll, believe it or not!--so if you want to investigate the supposed offensiveness of this issue, I guess you can move from the cover to the inside pages themselves.

I never understood the fascination some people have with how Barbie is, well, put together. It is a doll, that is it, not a social icon. But I am sure many people will be offended by that.

Not me. That is a doll, nothing more. Would I be offended if Playgirl had a pictorial on, say, G.I. Joe?

Anyway, marvel at the photos I have provided, and enjoy them.

Kind of thaws out what we have been experiencing, doesn't it?

Rant #2,478: Shop Around

Now that we all know what Oreo's mystery flavor was for this year--churro--and we know that Kamala Harris will not run for president in 2020, what else is there for us to know that will make our lives better as we near the actual winter season?

That's an easy one. We need to know what I purchased on Black Friday Record Store Day.

I figured I would do a "big reveal" simply because, quite frankly, I have nothing at all new to offer you on the job front. Everything is status quo, and unless something major happens--and Internet fortune that I read said that "today is my lucky day"--I have said enough about this saga for now.

The operative phrase is "for now," because I am sure there will be lots more for me to tell you as the days and months go on, but at least not today.

So what did I buy on Black Friday Record Store Day anyway?

Through the auspices of my son--who allowed me to purchase what I wanted as my Hanukkah gift, using money that he earned from his job--here are some of the things that I bought, and not everything was released specifically as an exclusive for Record Store Day, or RSD as it is also known as.

I purchased four 7-inch singles/extended play disks on that day. Two of them were RSD exclusives, and those were the "Gimme Some Truth" single from Cheap Trick and the double-single "Christmas Party Plus" from the Monkees. The former single adds to the treasure trove of material the Midwest band releases every RSD, while the latter includes not only three Monkees holiday songs, but the demo of "Unwrap You at Christmas by XTC's Andy Partridge.

I also purchased two non-RSD singles/extended play records: the "All My Loving" British extended play disk from the Beatles, circa 1964; and Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance to the Music" single, with picture sleeve, and this particular single was issued in the Netherlands in 1968.

As far as 12-inch records, I really had a good haul of vinyl on that day.

Here is what I purchased on RSD as exclusives for that day:

* Jimi Hendrix: "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" picture disk

* Cheap Trick (them again): "Are You Ready? Live 12/31/79"

Here is what I purchased from the bargain bin on that day, several non-RSD releases:

* "King Rat" soundtrack

* "Hang 'Em High" soundtrack

* Lainie Kazan: "Right Now!"

* The Merrymen: "Go From Dusk 'Til Dawn"

And as a bonus, I finally received in the mail something that I had sent out for about six months ago, while I was still gainfully employed, a recording which finally came out last week in the United States:

* Michael Nesmith with Red Rhodes: "Cosmic Partners - The McCabe's Tapes" picture disk

So yes, I have plenty to listen to--and plenty to digitize during the coming weeks. I have only listened to the Sly and the Family Stone single thus far, and I am very pleased with it, so I am sure that I will be at least equally as pleased with the other stuff that I purchased.

I know, this is not a groundbreaking revelation, but it makes me happy, and during a period where I have been thwarted at every turn from being happy (you do not know the half of it!), I have to look for little things to thrill me and to amaze me ,,,

And these are it.

Classic Rant #1,146 *February 18, 2014): The Curse Continues (Sort Of)

Well, at least my car door was finally fixed.

I had it done yesterday on the holiday, and because of all my hollering about the abuse that I incurred since this thing happened, it was a good President's Day, as I didn't have to give up nearly as many "Dead Presidents" as I thought I would to get the repair done.

Whoopee for me! One curse lifted, another curse ready to go.

2014 has been a horrible year for myself and my family thus far, with one major nuisance or another ruining the new year for us.

The latest had to do with my father.

He is 82 going on 83 years old, and he has a heart condition brought on by the stresses of driving a cab in New York City for the past 50 years or so.

Yes, he still drives.

Anyway, he felt a pain on his upper right side, didn't tell anyone until it lingered, and since he has a stent in his heart, every precaution had to be taken, so we rushed him to the hospital last night.

They did a whole battery of tests on him, and it is not his heart, it is not the stent, it is probably an ache having to do with lifting luggage for passengers, which he is not supposed to do at this stage of the game.

He worked through this yesterday, lost his wallet (it was returned to him), got a ticket for stopping in a no stopping zone, and came home with the pain, so he was taken to the hospital.

He appears to be OK, but he is done working this week for sure.

He loves doing what he does, so there is no stopping him next week, but this week, he is done.

It appears he may have dodged a bullet here, and I am happy that he didn't have a heart attack or need a new stent put in.

There is this black cloud over my family, or so it appears, but since my father is fine, what am I complaining about?

Yes, it is snowing again, and I think that is reason enough to complain.

It is supposed to be in the 50s later this week, so all this garbage we have accumulated will melt, and hopefully go away so we won't have to deal with it anymore.

But with the remainder of February, a whole month of March and the beginning of April, my favorite month, to contend with, who knows what the weather will bring?

All I know is that my father is OK, and maybe the curse is lightening up a bit.

I won't look around the corner for anything coming up, because quite frankly, I am shell shocked at this point.

Whatever happens, happens, but I hope we have nipped The Curse of 2014 in the bud.

But then I look at the falling snow outside, and I wonder what can happen next.

Rant #2,477: Something's Burning

... and it really stinks.

There is no other way to describe it.

I am outraged, and you should be too.

if you did not see my Facebook post yesterday, it has to do with the various questions you are asked to fill in on your job application.

Well, I applied for a job that the company that is offering the job clearly stepped over the boundaries, asking applicants questions that, quite frankly, are none of their business.

Here is my Facebook post, and I will take it from there:

"Usually, when I apply for jobs, the application asks me for my ethnicity, my race, and if I am a veteran and if I am disabled. As repulsive as it is to reply to these questions, I do it anyway, because I don't have a choice.

However, today, for perhaps the first time, I was asked about my sexuality. If this is going to determine whether I get a job or not, is this the type of work environment that I would like to work in?

Never again will I answer such a question on a job application.

It appears that rather than take the best person, companies are hiring people based on things that have absolutely nothing to do with the workplace. And that is plain wrong.

And it actually should be illegal to ask such questions.

And if any hiring managers are reading this, that is fine with me. If you are basing your hiring on whether I am gay or straight, transgender or binary, rather than what I can bring to your company based on my skills and experience, then I guess your company is not one that I want to work for.

Some of you will say that I am shooting myself in the foot for posting this, but so be it.

I am white, male, heterosexual, and most importantly, I have decades of experience. If that is not enough for you, then find someone else who fits they type of individual that you are looking for.

I am obviously not that person."

Absolutely ridiculous, wouldn't you agree?

It really does not matter for me to tell you the company that perpetrated this (click on the image at the top to clearly see what I am talking about in this Rant), nor the job listing service that posted this position. What's most important is that companies are evidently now asking applicants for information that has absolutely nothing to do with the work environment. It is an invasion of privacy, and really, what my sexuality is has nothing to do with the workplace at all.

Is this where this culture has gone, where we are not defined by our accomplishments and what we have done in the workplace, but by our sexuality? Is this what employers are looking for?

I think not and I certainly hope not. If this is the new workplace, perhaps it is better if I don't get a job, because I won't fit into the box that employers want me to exist in.

Honestly, I do not know what this world is coming to. We are so afraid to offend anyone that we have gone off the deep end for inclusion, and I do believe that it is hurting not just the workplace, but the world in general/

We have completely lost the ability the laugh at ourselves, to laugh at our human foibles, and in doing so, we have completely lost the ability to be human beings. We are nothing but robots, without any sense of who we are, and being defined by our sexuality shows, without a shadow of a doubt, that the world is insane, or certainly the world is getting there.

We can accept people without defining what they do in bed and who they are attracted to. I have never been asked in a job interview whether I prefer men or women, if I am really the gender that I am, or what I consider myself to be. True, I have not had a face to face interview in eons, but is this what I am to expect when I finally do get a real interview?

Are my abilities, my background, and what I can bring to a company unimportant now, trumped by who I am sexually attracted to?

If that is how I am going to be defined, then you know what? I will graciously step aside, let some other people apply for the same jobs I am highly qualified for, and just meander into retirement.

And when I think about it, maybe that's for the best.

Today's world is not the world I was born into, and maybe it is better for me to just live out the next 25 years or so (hopefully) in peace.

Rant #1,145 (February 14, 2014): Happy (Snowy) Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day.

It is supposed to be a happy, joyous occasion, where you celebrate the love that you have for your significant other and your family.

This year in my neck of the woods, well, we have had enough misery to start our own company here.
It has been a horrible winter, and this has been the week from hell.

We got pummeled yesterday with nearly a foot of snow, and then last night and into this morning, we got even more.

I shoveled three times yesterday: in early morning, at work--yes, I went, and my car got stuck in about a foot of snow in the parking lot--and at home again.

I work for a company that has absolutely no regard for its workers during weather situations.

They leave it to the individual employee to decided whether they want to trek to work or not.

This, of course, is a highly ineffective way of doing business. They have no weather plan, and they seemingly do not care about the safety of their workers.

I went to work yesterday, decided at about 10 a.m. to leave--after getting in at around 6:30 a.m.--and was told to wait, "because the rain is coming."

Yes, it came, but all it did was buttress the existing snow, making it even more difficult to get out of the parking lot, when I decided that I had had about enough, at about 12:45 p.m.

It took me about a half hour to get out of that unplowed lot. Thank God for a co-worker having a shovel, and for a guardian angel--a person I had never seen before--helping to push me out of the lot when I was caught in the ice and snow about a foot from the street.

And now, in a few minutes, I have to go out and shovel again.

So this isn't the greatest Valentine's Day I have ever had. My wife and I will exchange our cards tonight, and we will probably go out to dinner with my son tomorrow--but again, snow is forecast, so who knows?

I hurt all over. Every inch of my body is sore. Yesterday, after all the shoveling, I felt like I was ready to be shoveled into the ground, if you know what I mean.

I am firmly convinced that any adult who loves the snow as much now as he or she did when they were kids doesn't have to shovel as an older person.

Those people are lucky.

Not only is my prize for the continued snow another period of shoveling, but I also get the double bonus of having to go to work today.

I also may have to bring my son to his alternative BOCES school today--and pick him up when he is done--because his regular school district does not provide bus transportation when they are on a delayed opening schedule, as they are today.

This edict just came down last week, and as you can tell, I am completely thrilled about this.

Have a great Valentine's Day. I can't wait for the day to end, with me all nice and warm, fast asleep in my bed right next to my Valentine, who will be doing the same thing.

(Happy President's Day--speak to you again on Tuesday.)

Rant #2,476: Welcome Back

It is good to be back at the helm of the Ranting and Raving Blog.

However, it was kind of nice to be away from it for a few days during the Thanksgiving holiday break.

Thanksgiving was nice, as it always is. It is the best holiday of the year because the only gift you need to bring with you when you attend this traditional meal is yourself.

This year, we attended the festivities at my brother-in-law's house, and we had a nice time. We ate, had plenty of fun with good company, and got home relatively early.

It was a good day to get away from the same old, same old.

And yes, prior to driving out for the feast, I did what I always do, which is to watch Laurel and Hardy in "March of the Wooden Soldiers" on TV. What I do each year is that I find the best version of the movie I can on YouTube--which means in black and white--cast it to the TV, watch it from beginning to end, and then turn on WPIX Channel 11, which annually runs it, this year in black and white, and then pretty much watch it again to its conclusion.

So I got my double dose of MOTWS like I always do, and I laughed as hard as I did when watching it as a kid.

And no, we did not do any shopping on Thanksgiving, unlike millions of others who ate and ran, right to their local malls and shopped 'til the turkey crowed, or maybe repeated on them. That is my wish for these airheads.

Why they could not wait until Black Friday to do their shopping is beyond my comprehension, but on Friday, I did what I always do, which is do some shopping at my local record store. To get in early, you had to pay a $5 donation, which is given to animal-related organizations, and a portion of the day's proceeds is given to those same organizations, so it makes you feel good to do some shopping on Black Friday Record Store Day.

I have to thank my wonderful son for allowing me to participate. With such bad tidings on my side this year, his generosity allowed me to do some shopping and add some really nice records to my collection. And he allowed me to put the records right in my collection now, not when Hanukkah comes later this month, so it made it even more special.

Saturday was my father's 88th birthday. He has had some ups and downs lately with his health, but he was in very good spirits on his birthday, as he always is, as shown in the photo above, which was taken probably about 50 years or so ago.

My sister and I took him out to one of his favorite restaurants--a local diner--and he had his birthday dinner with his family and three of his grandchildren. He was as happy as could be, and with everything going on with him lately, it not only gave us time to celebrate, it allowed him to relax, too, in the company of his loved ones.

Sunday was not one of the great days of my life. It was dreary and horrid outside--it seemed to rain or sleet or hail the entire day--and on top of that, there was a problem in our area with water pressure, as I think a water main broke, so for a few hours, even if you wanted to get out of the house, you couldn't drive very far, because all the roads around us were either blocked off as the problem was worked on or cars were bumper to bumper everywhere.

Me, I couldn't drive anywhere anyway, because for one of the few times in my recent driving history, I had to contend with a flat tire.

I noticed it early on Sunday morning, and skirting all the hubbub of later in the day, I was able to get my car to a local car repair place that was open on Sunday, and after about five or six hours, my car was done. I gifted myself with a new tire for my agita.

Anyway, that was the weekend, and now I go back to business, typing this Rant out and then diving head first into the job openings, which probably won't lead me anywhere, but at least I know that I am doing my due diligence and I am trying to do the right thing.

And yes, by the way, Black Friday was not just a day to shop, it was a day to say thanks, thanks to the technician at the New York State Department of Labor who called me during lunch that day to tell me that he had finally fixed my problem, and that I could finally get what I need to proceed, which is the ability to file for unemployment for that week and probably weeks to come.

It made me feel better about myself, my situation, and to tell you the truth, about humanity when he told me that everything was copacetic. I have to tell you, I was about one hour away from going over to my elected officials to complain about what I was going through, and getting a lawyer to handle my case.

Happily, I did not have to do that, and this week, after nearly two months, I will be receiving my first unemployment money,, making it easier for me to exist during this terrible period in my life.

So yes, as I said last Wednesday, I have reason to give thanks, even during this horrible time.

Now I can finally breathe again.

Classic Rant #1,144 (February 13, 2014): Another Great Leaves Us

Yesterday, we lost another of the great ones, another person who helped define an era.

Unlike Shirley Temple, I don't think too many young kids know who Sid Caesar was. Sure, they probably did not know who Temple was, either, but at least they knew the name.

I don't think the same could be said of Caesar, and that really is a crime.

If those same kids watch "Saturday Night Live," and laugh and howl at the stuff on that show, then they owe it to themselves to find out who Caesar was.

Caesar was one of TV's earliest stars, through his "Your Show of Shows," one of the medium's earliest variety hours.

Featuring mostly comedy, through that show, the likes of Carl Reiner, Woody Allen, Howard Morris, Mel Brooks and Neil Simon were unleashed on the world, guys that would shape comedy for the next several decades.

And that is not to forget Imogene Coca, who was often Caesar's female comic foil.

If there was a show that was a precursor to "Saturday Night Live," this was it.

I was a bit too young for that show, so my introduction to Caesar's comic talents came a couple of years later.

Caesar was one of the multitude of stars in my favorite movie of all time, one of the funniest films of all time, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

He played Melville Crump, and like the others in the cast, this normally mild mannered person threw that all out the window, hell-bent on the basic instinct of greed, during the course of the movie.

Playing off the beautiful Edie Adams as his wife, Monica, one of the funniest segments in the movie was when they systematically destroy a hardware store, which they get locked into after hours.

You can see his comic genius on display in that segment and throughout the film.

Just listen to him figuring out the division of shares in the clip below. You never thought numbers could be funny? Listen to this guy!

Caesar, who had his demons after his heyday, was pretty ubiquitous in film and television for the past 50 years or so, but like Milton Berle, he is almost a forgotten figure of early TV, especially when compared to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and the like from that period.

The problem is that his shows aren't rerun very often, and are thought to be relics of a different time. They are kinescopes--a film of a film--which means they are thought to be difficult to watch.

Hogwash.

The shows are funny in any generation, and anybody who likes to laugh would enjoy these shows too.

And that goes for "Mad World" too, a movie which was just rereleased on DVD and Blu-ray.

I would search all of them out.