Classic Rant #246 (April 30, 2010): May Day Go Away

Tomorrow, May 1, is May Day.

This holiday isn't even listed in my desk calendar. All that is listed is Labor Day in Mexico.

But at one time, May Day was a big holiday here in the U.S.

I remember as a kid, maybe in kindergarten or first grade, that May 1 featured a big celebration at our school. We actually have film of myself and my class in the schoolyard doing some type of dance, and then dancing around a maypole.

I think the whole thing dated back to much earlier times. This was some type of fertility rite (egads!) or something to do with welcoming a good harvest, or something like that.

But May Day took on negative connotations toward the mid to late 1960s, and that's while nobody in this country even bats an eye at the day anymore.

I think it became linked to the then U.S.S.R. and became a "communist" holiday. It was a "workers" day or a "labor" day, and well, that even sounds un-American, doesn't it?

It's a day of political demonstrations and these events are organized by socialist groups, so we certainly can't celebrate a holiday like that here, that's for sure!

That's why, in a democracy, we don't celebrate it anymore.

Believe me, I can understand that entirely.

But I know that at one time we did celebrate it.

And I have the film to prove it.

Rant #1,595: 60

The number 60 is a pretty good number.

It is 6 x 10, or 5 x 12, or 4 x 15, or 3 x 20, or 2 x 30, or even 1 x 60, so it is divisible by the first six numbers of the number sequence 1 to 6.

But today, I am going to look at it as 60 is equal to two, because today is a great day in my family ...

Today, January 22, 2016, is the 60th wedding anniversary of my parents.

Way back in 1956, they got hitched on this day, and through the many decades that followed, they stayed together, through thick and thin.

It was an unlikely pairing to say the least.

My father was originally from Manhattan, grew up on the gritty and very ethnic Lower East Side, was a Marine who served during the Korean War period, and was a New York Yankees fan.

My mother was from Brooklyn, grew up on upscale Ocean Parkway, and was a Brooklyn Dodger fan.

Through some quirky situations, these two somehow got together, and the rest is history.

All these years later, they are the leaders of our family, the matriarch and patriarch of our small clan which numbers two children, the spouses of their children, and five grandchildren, four boys and one girl.

No, it is not a large family, but whatever the case, it all started with my mother and father.

They were opposites, but they shared the same faith and the same dreams, and they made those things work for themselves and later, for my sister and I.

They made sure we had a solid home environment, which was predicated on education, hard work, and the family.

I learned very early on that without family, you have nothing.

Both my mother and father were great role models, and still are, not just to myself and my sister, but to their five grandkids.

They are always there, always around, always open to help.

They are both 84, and sure, they have their aches and pains, but overall, they are perhaps the most healthy octogenarians on this planet. Nothing stops them from doing what they want to do, and I wish I can be that active when I reach their age.

They really couldn't have been better parents, and as grandparents, they are really second to none.

What more can I say about my parents?

On Sunday, rain or shine, snow or no snow, they are throwing their own 60th anniversary party, and they invited various friends and relatives to be with them on their special day.

I will hopefully have time to make a little speech on that day, and I will post my speech right here on Monday.

You will find that I have a lot more to say about my parents than what you are reading here today.

So right now, I just want to wish them the happiest 60th anniversary possible.

They deserve all the accolades they are going to receive during their party, and then some.

If God asked me to choose my parents, I could not have done better.

Best wishes to them for at least 60 more years of happiness, and I will speak to you again on Monday.

(P.S.: This morning, due to the coming snow, the party was postponed until February 27.)

Classic Rant #245 (April 29, 2010): Every Dog Has His Day

Now that the birthday stuff is over ...

I heard that a third of married women in a recent poll said that they would rather talk to their pets about their problems.

According to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll, women say that their pets are better listeners than their husbands.

And it works the other way too. Eighteen percent of husbands said their pets are better listeners than their wives.

I don't know, I have never personally gotten into a conversation with Max, our family mutt (no, not the one pictured here). Even if I did, I wonder how he would react. He would probably kneel and wait for a treat.

And I guess that that is just it. A pet isn't going to talk back to you, ask idiotic questions, or challenge you, no matter what you say.

You can vent with a pet. You can't with your spouse (or can you; my wife and I have done this on occasion).

More importantly, who thinks up these polls anyway? What kind of stupid nonsense is this--and to have the Associated Press linked up with it ... I mean, don't they have anything better to do?

Aren't there any other topics they can think up for a poll?

Isn't there anything else worth polling people about?

There, I've vented to you, and no, Max is not panting at my side here waiting for a treat.

Sorry to treat all of you like a dog or a cat or a fish or a gerbil or a bird.

Rant #1,594: Google Chromed

I am sure that you noticed when you went onto this site today that the Classic Rant feature is back.

How did this happen, you ask?

It wasn't a miracle, but I have to wonder why the whole thing happened in the first place.

I was completely perplexed about this whole thing, so I went into Google Blog Help, a feature that I have used in the past when my site was hacked.

Way back when, over a year ago, I came up with nothing. No solutions, no direction about what I could do about something like this.

Well, this time around, evidently, I am not the only person to have suffered the loss of what is called my blog archive, as I read when I went into the help site.

However, I did not find exactly the solution to my problem there, so I put up my question about my blog.

"Why can't I go into my blog archive as I have in the past? When I try to access the archive, all that I get is the spinning ball of doom, but it does not provide me access.

What should I do?"

Well, that was actually two questions, but I think you get the point.

I posted my question(s), and waited for a response.

I got one the very next day.

Basically, someone who read my question had a pretty quick solution: open the site in Google Chrome, and the archive will miraculously appear again.

I did, and it did.

I was happy, but I posted another question, which has yet to be answered, and that is, "Why, all of a sudden, am I being forced to use Google Chrome as my browser when I access my blog?"

I think that that question has a simple answer.

Google is trying to push its Chrome browser for everyone to use. I prefer Mozilla Firefox, but they want me, as a PC or Mac user--sometimes I do use a Mac for the blog--to move over to Chrome.

Google is not being nice by doing this, but they have forced my hand, so what am I to do?

I don't know if you realize this, but Google is kind of everywhere. When you go into YouTube, you are accessing a Google product, to use one example to illustrate my point.

I don't necessarily like Google Chrome. To me, it is not as flexible as Firefox is, or whatever I am using on a Mac.

But as long as I can access my blog, I guess that I would rather switch than fight--at least for this one thing that I do on the computer five days a week.

So, if they want to take over the world, I guess they can start with their blogs.

I am just happy that I can access them they way I used to, and look, the Classic Post I put up today celebrates my birthday, of all things.

Tomorrow, I am going to tell you about a much more important celebration my family will be having this weekend, rain or shine, snow or no snow.

And Google Chrome will have nothing to do with it.

Classic Rant #244 (April 28, 2010): So Today’s Your Birthday

Yes, the day has come.

I am 53 years old today.

Let me see, 53 years old ... that means I was born way back in 1957. I was the first child born to Phyllis and Carl and after me, against the belief of many people (my mother told me so), they had another child, my sister Gail, two and a half years later.

I am sure we both aged our parents plenty, but gave them lots of joy too.

But back to me (since it is MY day) ...

I feel good for my age, not that 53 is really old anymore. I certainly feel better than I did two years ago to the day, when I had my gall bladder removed. I never felt so sick in my entire life as I did on that day. Since the operation, I have had some bad health days, but nothing terrible like that.

I feel pretty good, to be honest with you.

I never got into the vices of smoking and drinking ... I don't do either.

My vice, if I have one, is cookies. If you put a package of Oreos in front of me and dared me to eat them, I know that I would--the entire bag.

I have no idea what I am getting from my family this year for my birthday. I am sure it will be a few DVDs, maybe a little cash.

That's fine. At this point in time, I look forward to the cards as much as the gifts.

People have asked me what I am doing for my birthday. Well I can tell you that pretty easily:

I'm working.

Yes, I am going into work today. It's no different than any other Wednesday on the calendar. I will put my nose to the grindstone and work, work, and work some more.

I would prefer not to, but what's a poor boy (literally) to do?

So happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear Larry, happy birthday to me!

Rant #1,593: Odds and Ends

Here are a couple of observations by me, none of which demand a full column, but nonetheless, do ask for some explanation and comment.

Lack of Recent Classics: I don't know if you have noticed, but I have not put up any Classic Rants lately.

There is a reason for me not doing this.

All of a sudden, I have been prevented from going into my archive on this site.

I have no idea why. It was like on Friday, I could, and by Monday, I could not.

I have asked Google for some answers and some help, but like what happened when the original Ranting and Raving site got hacked, I am not expecting much of anything to happen.

I miss having the archives at my disposal, and that doesn't just mean that I can't get into old stuff, I can't get into new stuff either, so I really can't edit what I write, which is what good writers try to do.

So if there is a mistake or a glaring error in my post, including this one, it is going to have to stay there until I can figure this thing out--or not, as the case may be, so bear with me, I am working on it.

First Big Storm of Winter Season Is Coming Our Way: Well, I am talking about in my neck of the woods, as other places have already gotten pelted.

Forecasters are expecting some type of nor'easter, to give us some significant snowfall after the first weeks of winter here have generally been like spring.

Depending on the trajectory of this storm, which is coming out of the west, we could get a lot of snow, a mix of rain and snow, or nothing. That is how funky this thing is right now.

And whatever we get, it will begin to come down on Friday into Saturday, so again, the work week pretty much misses a hit on this one.

And this weekend is a critical one in my house, which I will tell you about on Friday. If it does come, let it come when I said, and not any later.

I have my reasons, which I will tell you all about later this week.

Actors Respond to Boycott: Oh, you just knew that this was going to happen ...

Some actors and actresses have responded to the planned boycott of the Oscars due to the lack of racial representation of minorities, specifically blacks, in the nominations, and let me tell you, these people generally aren't the sharpest tools in the shed and should pretty much be happy that they are paid incredible amounts of money to do what they do.

George Clooney, Mr. Left Wing Without a Clue, again demonstrates to me that some of this flock have no clue as to what they are talking about.

He has said that the Academy "has not done enough" to encourage blacks to be members of this group, yet he offers absolutely no solutions to this supposed problem.

Look, the Academy is open to those in the business to join. There is a $250 annual membership fee, that is paid yearly, and that is pretty much it. You cannot force people to join an organization they do not want to join, but according to the Academy, more than 300 people joined last year, a year where the total was higher because the group went out of its way and tried to get as many minority members as possible to join.

But again, that begs the question: will minorities only vote for films that feature minority themes and minority performers? I think not, and thus, what happened this year was to be expected ... and applauded.

Do you really want blacks to just vote for black films and performers? Again, this is the problem that Clooney and many in his brood do not seem to get.

And one of Will Smith's former co-stars on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" has told his wife to basically shut up and act. Janet Hubert, who played Aunt Viv on the show, basically said that Jada Pinkett Smith is doing this crusade simply because of sour grapes that her hubby did not get nominated, and that she, herself, should shut up about it, because this industry which she is knocking has afforded her and her family a lifestyle that they could never have dreamed about.

Yes, the woman herself is black, so she knows more than others do about how lucky many of those in the industry actually are, even though they refuse to acknowledge it.

Shut up and act, will ya?

The Best Movie I Saw This Year: Glen Campbell was a trailblazer, a performer who crossed over from country to rock to pop with ease during a time when few artists were doing so. He paved the way for the Taylor Swifts of today's world, and as a guitarist and entertainer, he was as big as they came during his time in the spotlight.

"I'll Be Me" chronicles Campbell's recent physical being, where he is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, perhaps one of the most dreaded conditions a living person can have.

This documentary film shows us Campbell in his last throes of productivity, able to perform and play the guitar but unable to fully comprehend what is happening to him.

It was filmed a few years ago, wrapped around what was his farewell tour.

We see him try to grip the disease that is rapidly getting worse, and somehow, getting through a grueling tour schedule that was basically his farewell to a fan base of more than 50 years.

It is very difficult to watch, and honestly, I had to watch it in two pieces. It was a bit much for me, personally, to see this talented fellow falling into the abyss.

My grandmother fell into the same chasm more than 20 years ago. The problem she had was probably oncoming, but people didn't know as much about the disease as they do today.

She was getting older, and when you get older, you get a little more scatterbrained, forgetful, and maybe a little eccentric in your ways.

Then, I remember seeing her get really out of her usual bubbly, happy self, and I knew that something far worse than age was surrounding her.

The same thing happened to Campbell. He went from basically a happy go lucky person to someone who didn't know where he was, and someone who couldn't answer simple questions.

He had his guitar playing, which his doctor said was so ingrained in him that it actually might have kept the disease somewhat dormant for far more years than anyone could have expected.

When my grandmother was fully afflicted with this disease, happily, she went quickly. We now hear that Campbell has been returned to his own home, where he will live out his days, if you want to call that living.

I watch my father because of this, and yes, he has suffered the rigors of old age, and he has had a few personal episodes, but so far, it seems to be all due to him getting older.

I still worry that what afflicted his mother--my grandmother--will get to him too, and yes, it is a constant worry.

He still works, he still is active, but sometimes, I have to wonder about him.

But basically, so far, so good.

See the Campbell movie. It is often hard to watch, but it will give you a better appreciation of his talent, his disease, and what he and his family are forced to go through, together, to make things as good as they can be.

That is it for today. Speak to you again tomorrow.

Rant #1,592: Much Ado About Nothing

I am sure that you have heard that certain members of the Motion Picture Academy of America plan to boycott this year's Academy Awards show, because they feel that they have been excluded once again from the nomination process.

They are black, and since no black actors or actresses were nominated this year, they want to make a statement that they do not accept this exclusion.

They purposely made the announcement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to put emphasis on their cause.

To them, all I can say is that while these people are hurt that they were excluded from the nominations, they really don't have much of a leg to stand on here.

In other words, their cause is a lot of hogwash.

Members of the MPAA vote on who gets nominated each year in the various categories of "bests."

The MPAA is made up of white voters, Asian voters, Jewish voters ... yes, and black voters too.

They are free to make their own choices, and they can vote for any film or any actor or actress that they choose for these coveted awards.

This year, they did not choose to exclude blacks from the nominations; they simply didn't vote for any to be up for these awards ... and that includes black voters, too, who I do believe are smart enough not to just vote for black films and black actors.

So this cause, led by Jada Pinkett Smith--whose husband Will Smith didn't get nominated for "Concussion," which leads me to believe that this is nothing but a sour grapes type of thing--is such stupidity that I can't believe that various actors and and actresses are buying into this nonsense.

But not all black brethren in the show business community are buying into it. Ice Tea, who was in "Straight Outta Compton," said that he didn't make this movie for an Oscar, he made it for the people.

Sure, he was probably disappointed that it didn't get a nomination, but he accepts its fate.

Others simply don't.

Many blacks won't attend the Oscars this year because they believe they have been excluded from the nominations because of their color, but if Pinkett Smith were sitting right in front of me now, I would ask here this question:

"Ms. Pinkett Smith, we have had a black president in office for nearly eight years now. Who voted him into office? Was it just black voters, or did whites vote him to be our President, too?

It's the same thing here. Whites made their choices, and blacks did too. And blacks and whites chose films and performers that were not black.

So what?

The greater argument that they have is that there are not enough black voters in the MPAA to make the playing field level. In response, MPAA executives have stressed that they have reached out to the black community to join their group, and have been successful in their efforts.

And even in a phony bow to what the black actors are saying, they have gone on record saying that they are dismayed that the nominations aren't more diverse. They used the term "heartbroken," but again, nobody forces anybody to vote for a specific movie or performer, so what exactly are they "heartbroken" about?

But do black members necessarily vote for black films and performers, or do they vote for the best films and performers? I would hope it would be the latter, because if it isn't, Pinkett Smith and her followers are nothing but racists, and they are truly soiling the memory of Dr. King with their idiotic crusade.

Funny, I don't see any Jewish films and performers, nominated, either, but I don't see the B'Nai Brith or Jewish performers getting hysterical about it.

Go home, count your money, and be happy that you are alive when black films and performers have the possibility of being nominated for Oscars.

Otherwise, you are acting like spoiled, racist brats, and is that the picture that you want America and the world to have of you?

I think not.