Rant #1,498: Baseball and a Birthday

Good to be back after a one-day hiatus.

Anyway, Sunday was a good day, as we celebrated my son's 20th birthday by taking him to a Yankees game.

Yes, the Yankees lost, but it was an exciting game, and a nice day all around.

We had not been to the big ballpark in the Bronx for the previous two seasons, but we finally made it back there, and I have to say, whenever I go to Yankee Stadium--even this version of the Stadium--I feel like I am home.

I have been to so many games in my life, that it seems to be almost a second home to me, although this version of the Stadium is nothing but a facsimile of the first Stadium.

Whatever the case, we finally made it back there, and it was a real long afternoon.

We just happened to see Andy Pettitte Day, where they retired the lefthander's number in a ceremony before the game.

We bought the tickets many, many months ago, and at that time, they had not announced that this was going to be a special day, so it just worked out that way.

So we got to see a number of Yankee greats, including Derek Jeter--the next and final player in my lifetime who will have his number retired by the team--and all the pomp and circumstance of such a day.

We will remember that long after we remember the game, which the Yankees were behind almost the entire game, tied it, and then lost it the very next inning.

But it was fun being at the game, and it was a well deserved present to my son.

After a very trying time that had nothing to do with him, he is finally in a job--just eight hours a week--and doing well.

We have been told that they plan on expanding his hours, and he might even get some weekend work in the future.

He is doing well, enjoys what he is doing, and I really think he now has a direction, one that he didn't have with the long months of inactivity he spent looking for a job and out of work.

So going to the game was the icing on his birthday cake, so to speak, along with the various gifts he received, including a tablet and a Yankees T-shirt.

And as for myself and my wife, it was fun too. It can be a little nerve racking going to the Stadium--it is a hike from where we live--and an August game can be brutal heat-wise, but everything just worked out for us.

The drive to and from the Stadium wasn't bad, and we sat in the shade in the upper deck the entire game. It was hot, but not as hot as it would have been if we sat in the sun the entire time.

So it was a good day all around, proving once again that a loss, as it was, can be a positive ... and you cannot ask for anything better than that.

Happy birthday to our son! Twenty years old, I cannot believe it!

Classic Rant #150 (December 10, 2009): Is There a Doctor In the House?

Yesterday, a doctor was picked up on Long Island for selling prescription painkillers without medical examination for a price. Each of these phony prescriptions netted the doctor several hundred dollars, and during a six-month investigation, "Dr. Frank" was caught on surveillance video making such deals to undercover policemen.

What makes it worse is that the community that he serves has a rampant heroin epidemic among its youngsters, and these painkillers were being used by druggies to feed their habit. The pills could be sold on the street individually for a huge profit, which then could be used to buy heroin.

What makes it even worse is that the doctor was selling the pain killers out of his own office, which is a few yards away from the local high school.

The accused doctor is my doctor, and I am absolutely astonished.

When I read the accounts yesterday, and as the story spread nationally, I couldn't think straight. This was the doctor I entrusted my body to for the past 10 years. In fact, I have actually been going to this office for the past 37-plus years, but the first 27 was with another doctor.

Anyway, I have entrusted my body to this doctor. He was personable, very professional, and gave me no cause for concern. He was always there when I need a physical, or when I was sick, or when I received my monthly allergy shots.

But, as we have learned from the Tiger Woods saga, people can live double lives. They can be one way in certain circumstances, and another way in other situations.

Evidently, this doctor--a family man with several children, some of them very young--led some type of double life. When his trial comes up, I am sure we will find out more about this and the reasons he did what he did.

But, in the meantime, I feel that he let me, my family, and the entire community down.

A doctor is someone you trust with your life. He never did me wrong, or my wife wrong, or other extended family members wrong, but when someone you trust gets tied up in something this heinous, you have to ask yourself if there were any instances when you thought something was awry.

A few months ago, the doctor decided to go the "holistic" route, I suppose, using this term because I really don't know what route he was taking. He seemed to forsake medicine for awhile. He was more into new-age theories and such.

But just when I was going to look for another doctor, he seemingly came back to earth. Later, he took a trip with his family back to his native India, and that seemed to give him his old verve back.

But something was certainly amiss, but I, and probably all of his "real" patients, did not know it.

Now, I really have to search for another doctor, which is a painstaking process linked up with my health insurance and my personal needs.

I still am in shock, and that shock won't wear off for some time. For a doctor to stoop this low ... well, I just can't believe that something like this could happen to not only me, but my community.

If you can't trust your doctor, who can you trust?

Rant #1,497: Alternative Top 40

No, the title of today's entry does not refer to some brand new radio station playing the songs that should be played rather than the songs that are being played today.

No such thing. In my mind, all the current music is pure garbage.

But then again, I am an old fogey at 58 years of age.

No, this Rant is going to be one of my every-once-in-a-while blatant plugs for another site that I run, one which I have run for over a dozen years.

It is Alternative Top 40, a music site profiling songs that we all may have forgotten or perhaps never heard before.

It is part of Yahoo Groups, and I guess I felt it was time for a blatant plug of this site.

And I am going to break protocol here.

I am going to rerun a recent Rant--#1,446, from May 27 of this year--to describe the site to you.

The Rant has been updated to the current time, but the aim is the same--to get you interested in what I have done, week after week, just about every Sunday morning for the past dozen years.

Here goes:

"Yes, it is once again time to plug another site that I run that has nothing to do with this site, and nothing to do with Facebook.

It is my long-running Yahoo Groups site, Alternative Top 40.

Yahoo Groups, at this point in time, is one of the most maligned configurations on the Internet, and admittedly, it has brought a lot of this stuff on itself, by changing things way too much for most people to bear, fixing something that wasn't broken.

And then there is Facebook, which made it so much easier to post things like I do there ... but not quite.

Anyway, Alternative Top 40 is the place to find rare and unusual music tracks by some of your favorite artists, as well as some that you may not know too well.

The primary focus of the site is 1964 to 1971, the years that I consider the best in popular music, or at least, the best in rock music, or at most, the best in music in my life span which began in 1957.

Sure, some would argue with me, but the years that I have chosen run parallel to the Beatles' hit years in the U.S., so I will stay with that focus.

The site is a simple one.

I post usually between a dozen and 18 tunes each week, and members vote on the ones that they like the most. They can vote for up to six tunes each week.

The ones that garner the most votes remain available for another week; those that don't do as well are removed.

Simple as that.

On this week's chart, I have some interesting music; everybody from Micky Dolenz of Monkees fame with a solo recording to the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" tune, one of their best album tracks which rarely gets played on the radio anymore.

It is all there, and everything in between.

I usually put up a lot of single A and B sides, and this week is no exception.

If you want to hear a very rare track, listen to "Pepe" by Duane Eddy. The "Guitar Man" recorded this for one of those all-star films that they used to have in the early 1960s, but you will never, ever hear this song on the radio. Then there is Sonny and Cher with "Plastic Man," a tune that still sounds like it was never finished properly, but was released quickly to push their popularity way back when.

And, there is a lot of other oddball stuff, like Freddy Cannon's "Fractured," Donovan's "Celia of the Seas," and Roger Miller's "Walkin' in the Sunshine."

Other artists on this week's chart include Bobby Darin, the Kinks, the Cowsills, Brian Hyland, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Herman's Hermits, the Four Seasons, Chris Montez, James and Bobby Purify, and the Lincoln Park Zoo.

About 75 percent of the recordings that I upload to the site are from my own collection, the remainder I obtain from other sources, including from members.

So please, take a look at the site. I think that you will enjoy it.

It can be accessed at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/AlternativeTop40/info."

And there you have it. Please visit the site, I think you will find it interesting, and please join up and vote when you do--there are some really interesting tunes posted there!

Anyway, enjoy the site.

I will be taking a day off on Monday for some personal reasons, but I will be back strong on Tuesday.

Have a good weekend--I will speak to you on the day after Monday.

Classic Rant #149 (December 9, 2009): I Never Had Teachers Like This

Were you ever "hot for teacher" when you were in school?

Well, in a school in Brooklyn, New York, "hot for teacher" was another teacher-and both were female!

The New York Daily News reports that two female Romance language instructors were tossed out of their Brooklyn high school after being caught "undressed" in an empty classroom.

Students at James Madison High School in Midwood were watching a talent show in the auditorium while the two teachers engaged in extra-curricular activities, according to sources.

A janitor stumbled on French teacher and a married Spanish instructor, and told school officials about the incident on November 20.

Both tenured teachers were removed from the classroom while they are being investigated for misconduct.

The episode is the talk of the school. Students even set up a Facebook group to discuss the shenanigans, and it already has logged more than 500 fans.

Students said both teachers were popular, and the photos the newspaper had of the two females show that yes, they are probably Playboy Magazine worthy, if that is a barometer of beauty that once can use.

What happens to these two lovebirds will be decided by the Department of Education, but what a male fantasy: two beautiful teachers engaged in a tryst at the local high school!

I don't know, I never had a teacher that I fell in love with. I had female teachers-and male teachers, for that matter--that I liked, but I liked them for their personalities and their abilities as a teacher. No fantasies here.

I had a teacher in college that I really liked--she was young, pretty and was a good teacher to boot--but a sexual thought never entered my head.

The only teachers I may have "lusted after" in my adolescent mind were on TV--the characters played by Denise Nicholas and Karen Valentine on "Room 222" come to mind.

Now, these two young teachers have lived the ultimate fantasy I guess--and they are probably going to pay for it with their jobs.

Why they did this in the classroom is anyone's guess. They should have carried on somewhere else, but one is married, so I guess their locales are limited.

But so be it. At least for one day, male fantasies have been fulfilled.

And I am sure if they need it, Playboy or some porn maker will not leave them on the unemployment line too long.

Rant #1,496: Goodbye, Batgirl

Another baby boomer cultural icon just died, and we mourn her passing.

Yvonne Craig, the sultry actress who portrayed Batgirl on the groovy, hip 1960s TV series, "Batman," died after battling breast cancer.

She was 78 years old.

Craig was a bit older than most of the other 1960s starlets when she finally hit it big in the late 1960s with her role on "Batman," the pop art TV series about Gotham's leading avenger.

Barbara Gordon was the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, but she had an alter-ego, Batgirl, which battled crime.

She was the perfect counterpoint for staid Bruce Wayne/Batman, and the perfect goo-goo eyed love interest for Dick Grayson/Robin.

And quite frankly, she made all the boys like me goo-goo eyed.

Craig started her acting career in the late 1950s, but it was in the 1960s that she shined. She was in several movies, including two with Elvis Presley--"It Happened At the World's Fair" and "Kissin' Cousins"--and she really made her mark on TV, with numerous guest starring roles in everything from "My Three Sons" to "The Mod Squad" to "Star Trek."

She was as photogenic as could be, with a great figure and a sultry look that was perfect for clean 1960s TV, sexy without being overtly sexual.

But as I said, nothing topped her stint as Batgirl, which people seem to forget was only for one single season, the final season of the show.

But people don't forget her at all, and even the CBS Evening News--as staid a news show as there is--mentioned her passing, and focused on her role as Batgirl.

Most importantly, she was television's first comic book hero, a couple of years before Lynda Carter became "Wonder Woman." Many believe Carter was the first, but they know not what they are talking about--it was Craig.

Craig acted into the 1970s and 1980s and beyond, and most recently, did cartoon voiceover work as her illness mounted, but she will always be remembered for that brief, one season run as Batgirl, something she acknowledged was her most popular and important role time and time again. She knew where her bread was buttered, and it put her in a different category than many of her fellow ingenues in the 1960s.

She was more than a pretty face with a body made to be shown off in a bikini.

She was, will be, and forever, now, is Batgirl.

R.I.P.

Classic Rant #148 (December 8, 2009): Another Wrestler Passes

I don't know if everyone saw this, but another popular wrestler just passed away.

And he passed away before he turned 40.

Known as Umaga, this burly wrestler was one of the hottest athletes in the WWE stable until a few months ago, when he was let go by the organization after supposedly many months of rehab due to assorted injuries.

He was best known as the Samoan wrestler with distinctive tattoos on his face, and he was part of the legendary wrestling family led by Chief Peter Maivia, a clan that includes Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock.

What is going on with professional wrestling? Why are so many of these young men dying at such early ages?

Well, we know from the Chris Benoit tragedy of a few years ago that the sport is rife with drugs, whether it be performance enhancing drugs (PED) or the other illegal kinds, everything from pot to cocaine.

We also know that the sport is bereft of health insurance for its athletes.

The schedule is grueling. The WWE is a 24 hour/365 day job that only a few can handle. Even when some move onto the other top wrestling organization, TNA, the easier lifestyle does not preclude the battering that these young men--and women--get on a regular basis.

It is clear that this beating--both physical and mental--makes many of these athletes old before their time, but the fame and wealth that can be accrued by being part of these organizations seemingly far outweighs, in the athletes' eyes, the possible health hazards.

I think it is time for professional wrestling to be regulated once again, if for no other reason than to see to it that these organizations have even stricter rules related to drugs than they already have--and the rules that they already have seem to be weak and not working.

For every wrestler that gets suspended or kicked out for drug usage--like Umaga--there are probably many others who abuse drugs yet go undetected, because the right tests are not in place.

Sure, other professional leagues have had the same problems as professional wrestling, but I believe their testing, which is in place now, is working to a certain degree.

But professional wrestling is a different animal altogether. To skirt the legal regulations, the organizations have declared themselves to be entertainers, and acknowledge that the results are often, if not all the time, fixed.

This way, they don't have to be regulated by state governments, like they used to be and like their cousin sport, boxing, is.

They are entertainers, and if entertainers need to be tested before they perform, I guarantee very few rock concerts would go on as scheduled, for obvious reasons.

That is why the time has come to re-regulate professional wrestling. Some governance and oversight is needed, because not only have the WWE and TNA created their own worlds, they have created their own rules, and that is just plain wrong.

With some rules in place, a wrestler like Umaga could get the treatment he needs, to continue his life, which I think is more important than him continuing in wrestling.

That oversight is necessary, and needed now.

Rant #1,495: Hit By Pitch

The Yankees remain in first place, so I am a happy guy.

They came back again last night and won their game, and all is well in the Bronx, at least for the time being.

The Eastern Division is so tight that this really is a five-team horse race with only a few weeks to go in the regular season.

Whatever happens this season, there will be many highlights that I will remember.

But one of those highlights is actually a low-light, a wakeup call that whenever you compete in sports, the chance of injury is always there.

Brian Mitchell, the Yankees' rookie pitcher, was making a start on Monday against the visiting Twins at Yankee Stadium.

He looked pretty good early on, but then tragedy struck.

Former Yankee Eduardo Nunez was at the plate, and hit a scorching line drive through the pitcher's mound.

The problem was that Mitchell was in the way, and the ball hit him in the face.

The ball was hit so hard that it careened off Mitchell's face into centerfield for a hit.

Mitchell was on the ground, and was in obvious pain.

As he was attended to, you saw that blood was coming from his face, and it was clear that he was in some major distress.

Happily for him, the bill of his cap might have saved him from some worse injury.

The ball actually hit the bill first, and then hit him in the nose.

He suffered a nose fracture and a concussion, and will be out of action for perhaps a week or so, or perhaps a little more.

And that is it.

Many years ago, in the late 1950s, Yankees batter Gil McDougald hit a similar scorching line drive through the box, and it hit Indians pitcher Herb Score squarely in the eye.

Although Score did make it back, he was never the same pitcher, and for that matter, McDougald was never the same hitter, so that incident pretty much ended each player's career.

There have been more recent incidents, such as when pitcher Brandon McCarthy was struck squarely in the skull by a hit ball a few years ago.

He needed several brain surgeries, as the pull cracked open his skull. He has come back to pitch, but is currently on the disabled list with an arm ailment.

These things do happen. But when they happen, the cry is that something more needs to be done to protect the pitcher. There are those who believe that pitchers should wear batting helmets, but while that might have helped McCarthy, I don't know how much it would have helped Score or Mitchell.

There is actually a design out there which has been pretty much rejected for aesthetic reasons of a cap that kind of looks like a hunter's cap. It protrudes all around, is unsightly, and nobody is currently wearing the cap in the major leagues.

What do you do about the safety of a pitcher, especially during these days when pitchers regularly throw 90-plus miles an hour and often their pitches are hit back to them at over 100 miles per hour?

You can't put up a fence in front of the piitcher, like they use in batting practice. That would harm the integrity of the game.

The only way to make things better for pitchers is to redesign their caps, but right now, other than the cap I talked about earlier, it isn't happening just yet.

Someday, a cap will be designed that is light, good looking, and does the job.

But a cap like this would not necessarily have helped Mitchell, because he basically got hit in the face.

You can't have a cap with a face guard, because that would take away from the line of vision of the pitcher.

So what do you do?

Right now, not much.

Athletes are prone to injury, and he suffered an injury, yes, an unfortunate one, but it goes down as an injury.

He will survive. Others who got hit survived.

Honestly, on this level, I really don't know what you can do.

It is, unfortunately, part of the game.