Classic Rant #574 (September 5, 2011): Holiday, What Holiday?

Today, September 5, is Labor Day.

Most people have today off.

They have barbecues, go to the beach for the last time during the summer, have cookouts, watch ballgames, and generally have fun.

Not me.

I have to work today.

That's right, I labor on Labor Day.

I guess it's not fair, but my place of business is open today. Not many of us will be at work today, but I will be there.

I can't think of a perfectly valid reason for us to have to go to work today, but we have been told to do so, so we will.

And one of the higher ups at work already told me that we will be working on Labor Day next year, too.

I have been employed by this place of business for nearly 15 1/2 years, and I have worked every Labor Day with the exception of maybe two or three in that time span.

So I should be used to working on Labor Day, but I'm not.

Beyond its true meaning, Labor Day is the unofficial last day of summer.

School starts tomorrow in many places, families are home from the rigors of their vacations, and now it's time to look ahead to Thanksgiving and Christmas (and if you are Jewish like me, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah).

It's not a day to work.

But work I must.

And my wife is working too, as is my dad, so it's not like everyone has off today.

I don't know if the girl in the picture is working today, but she seems pretty relaxed as she celebrates the holiday.

So while you are reading this, sitting at home and relaxing today, think of people like me, who have to work today.

You don't envy me, so I guess I don't envy you.

I guess.

Rant #1,919: Back In the Home Run Groove

The Cincinnati Reds' Scooter Gennett had a game for the ages last night.

Reportedly not even supposed to be in the Reds' starting lineup last night, the ballplayer became the 17th major leaguer to hit four homers in one game in his team's 13-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

What's more, Gennett became the first player in Major League Baseball history to have four homers, five total hits, and 10 runs batted in in a single game.

Thus, Gennett did something that even sluggers like Babe Ruth never did, and that was to get four round trippers in a game.

What makes this an even more amazing feat is that Gennett really isn't a home run hitter, or at least, wasn't prior to this particular game.

Before the game, he had just three homers for the season, although he was having a good season overall at the plate, hitting in the .270 range.

Now, with the four home runs and 10 RBIs under his belt, he has pushed his average over .300, and has seven homers and 30 RBIs for the season.

And for his career, in over 1,600 at bats, he now has 42 homers, so one wouldn't call Gennett a power hitter by any stroke of the imagination.

The sad thing is in this post-steroid era, everyone remains suspect, whether you are Gennett, Aaron Judge, or just about every player.

Are they juiced ... or perhaps is the ball juiced?

Home runs are up this year at this point in the season, and actually, have been increasing since the 2015 season.

There are plenty of theories on this, including that players are bigger and stronger today, good pitching is at a premium, and yes, the rumors about the players and the very ball they hit.

Baseball has stringent anti-PED policies, but that doesn't mean that every PED is detectable. There might be some that aren't.

As for the ball, balls used in MLB also have standards that have to be met, but that doesn't mean that the balls used today are as tightly woven--or not as tightly woven--as those used in 2014, when home runs kind of bottomed out in baseball.

No one is saying Gennett has done anything untoward in achieving his feat, but baseball has been there, done that during the steroid era, and such feats of strength are always going to be questioned from hereon in.

Babe Ruth's "PED" of choice was hot dogs and beer, and other dalliances that legends have been made from; others actually used pills and injections to achieve such feats.

Scooter Gennett is going to have to go with the flow, and there are some people who are going to question what he did.

But whatever the case, what he did was magnanimous, stupendous and unbelievable, and one would hope that everyone could leave it at that.

Classic Rant #573 (September 2, 2011): Panties All Tied In a Knot

Happy birthday to Salma Hayek today. She turns 45.

Now that I got that out of the way, here's a real story to talk about.

Riddle me this: why were hundreds of pairs of mostly women's underwear dumped along the side of a road in a town in Central Ohio?

The undergarments were found in trees and on hillsides in several spots in Fairfield County this week on a road in Berne Township, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus.

Some of the panties reportedly were still folded the way they'd come in packaging, while others appeared to have been worn.

There were nearly 1,700 pairs in all, in a mix of colors and patterns.

When collected, they filled 10 large trash bags.

But authorities have no idea where the panties came from.

Sounds like a college prank to me. Are there any schools of higher education in this area?

I hope that the police give these undergarments to some deserving cause, like a homeless shelter or something like that. Heaven knows that those people could use some nice new underwear.

And wash the used underwear. They will be like new for these people.

But where did the undergarments come from?

They just don't drop from the sky, like the manna from heaven story in the Bible.

It doesn't rain underwear, either.

I still stick with my belief that some college fraternity and/or sorority probably had a part in this.

The police should canvas some local department stores to see if large quantities of undergarments were purchased recently.

I am sure that with good detective work, they will solve this case.

This isn't a panty raid, it's almost just the opposite.

And again, happy birthday to Salma Hayek, who, I am sure, wouldn't be able to help the police out on this one.

Rant #1,918: Happy Anniversary

June 6, 1993 was a somewhat non-important day on the calendar, a day like pretty much every other day that preceded it and that followed it in that particular year.

Sure, things happened on that day, but nothing earth shattering.

The 47th annual Tony Awards were held in the evening, and "Angels in America" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" won major awards.

Writer/Director James Bridges, who was involved in many important TV shows including "The Paper Chase," died at age 57.

If it sounds like I am reaching, I am, but one important thing happened to me, and my wife, on that day 24 years ago.

We were married on that day, and today, we celebrate 24 years of wedded bliss.

I remember that it was a super windy day, and since we had the ceremony outside, everything was blowing over, including the pillars that they put up on each side of the path that we walked to the altar.

We have video of it, and today, we can laugh, but I swear, if the Flying Nun were attending, she would have blown away.

Anyway, the ceremony went quickly, we had our reception, and we were husband and wife.

My daughter and my two nephews, just little kids back then, were running around like the dickens during pretty much the entirety of the day, and when we look back, it is hard to believe that they are all adults now, all in their late 20s, and that 24 years ago was really so long ago.

But here we are, my wife and I, and I look at my wife, and I think she is still a stunner; no one would believe that she is the age that she is.

Me, I probably look my age, but who cares ... I am happy, love my wife dearly, and that is what counts.

In the past 24 years, we have grown together, we have suffered the ups and downs that any marriage faces, but love wins out over everything.

We have a son who continues to be a work in progress, but we love the strides he has taken, and look forward to his continued growth as a human being and as a responsible adult.

What I didn't know until a few years ago was that my wife knew that she was going to marry me pretty much on our first date.

Me, I was oblivious to such a thought, probably blinded by her beauty. But I can say that I did really enjoy her company and I loved how she looked, and I loved her whole presence even on that first date.

And here we are today, looking ahead to the big one next year, No. 25.

I have a couple of thoughts in my head for June 6, 2018, but let's not put the cart before the horse.

Let my wife and I celebrate No. 24 ... by working a full day, and since she works late today, I will only see her for a few hours at most.

I guess that will be enough for today, but on the weekend, we will celebrate by going out to dinner, eating at any restaurant she wants to eat at.

And to me, she will always be the most beautiful woman in the world, bar none.

Sure, we are 24 years older than we were back in 1993, but we are also 24 years better.

Happy anniversary, Elena, I love you very much.

Classic Rant #572 (September 1, 2011): Fresh As a Lily

We are getting closer to the end of the summer. What a summer it has been! We've had earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes ... you name it, we've had it.

I've had my own crazy summer. I've been back and forth to Florida, been in the hospital, and my son turned Sweet 16.

Oh, what a summer!

And today is the beginning of the final month of summer, and it is time to look at a famous person who was born today, who, even though she is no longer with us, was an icon for the baby boomer generation ...

... and because of TV reruns, she has never lost that iconic status.

Yvonne DeCarlo would have turned 89 today if she were still alive. She passed away in 2007, and due to her role as Lily Munster on "The Munsters," she made an indelible impression on kids of the 1960s, and I think kids in the succeeding generations, too.

The Canadian-born DeCarlo--who was half-Jewish on her mother's side--was a beauty with an hourglass figure who made her mark on the silver screen way before the Lily role came about. Howard Hughes even had his eye on her obvious assets. She starred in several B movies and several top-flight productions, including "The Ten Commandments." She had that exotic look that you don't often forget.

But like many actresses, once they reach a certain age, roles can be few and far between.

By the mid-1960s, DeCarlo was pretty much forgotten. She continued to appear in films and TV, but was something of an afterthought as a film star.

"The Munsters," created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, was a counterpoint to their previous "Leave It To Beaver" sitcom. On Beaver, everything was in place, was pretty much perfect, and the Cleavers have continued on as our favorite TV All-American Family.

Fred and Lily Munster, as well as Grandpa, Eddie and, to a certain degree, Marilyn, were an All-American family too. But they certainly didn't look the part. Their ghoulish manner-sans Marilyn, the "ugly duckling" of the bunch--belied the fact that they wanted the same things that we all want in life, no matter how they looked.

Connelly and Mosher scored a coup when they got DeCarlo for the role of Lily. Although not their original choice, she was a former movie star who need steady employment by this point in her career. She later said in an interview, "It meant security. It gave me a new, young audience I wouldn't have had otherwise. It made me 'hot' again, which I wasn't for a while."

Fred Gwynne, who played Herman, and Al Lewis, who played Grandpa, were originally a little uneasy with DeCarlo. The two veteran TV actors--who appeared together just before "The Munsters" on another classic TV sitcom, "Car 54, Where Are You?", were uneasy because DeCarlo had been such a movie star at one time. They reportedly thought she would look down on the rest of the cast.

They found out quickly that nothing could be further from the truth.

Although "The Munsters" ran just two seasons, it has been one of the all-time retro hits, being almost constantly shown in reruns since it went off the air. There have been several TV and big screen films--some starring much of the original cast--and constant talk of revivals.

The show solidified DeCarlo as a baby boomer icon. She was so good as Lily Munster that you really believed that she actually was who you thought she was on the show.

After the show went off the air, DeCarlo continued to act in movies and on TV. She was one of the few redeeming factors in one of Russ Meyer's Hollywood studio-driven films, "The Seven Minutes," a movie which rarely ever gets shown anywhere. She appeared in several other films, and died on January 8, 2007.

Although she had a long and storied career as a film star, DeCarlo will always be remembered as Lily Munster by kids who today are in their 50s and 60s. Even in her garish costume, her beauty was in evidence.

She was the real deal.

Rant #1,917: Bits and Pieces

I hope you had a good weekend.

A couple of stories rankled my ire, but I have decided to cover in lesser detail than an entire column.

So here goes ...

Kathy's Griffin's Tirade Against Trump Continues: One of the most despicable and career-ending episodes in recent memory was the so-called comedienne's news conference on Friday, where she defended herself against, well, basically, herself.

If you remember, she posted a picture of herself holding a bloodied head of President Trump, and thought that that image was funny.

Then when she found that it wasn't due to the public outcry--which came from all quarters--she decided to make a video to apologize, which sounded as false as trying to cash a $3 bill.

When that ploy continued to enrage people, she then decided to hold a full-fledged news conference, telling people that she was, in fact, the victim, and that the President wasn't strong enough to get her.

Please. She is sounding more and more like a spoiled brat.

She was the one who posted this horrific photo, which she claimed wasn't her fault, because she was pushed to do it because of Trump's past "blood coming from everywhere" comment.

She claimed that white men had some type of abuse of power over women, and she claimed that she would never back down, and would continue to criticize the President when she thought it was necessary.

Based on her actions, she has a severe anti-male persona that really and truly, she needs severe psychiatric help for.

Funny, she was the one who put herself into this hole, and she was blaming everyone else for her actions. This is precisely what some people say defines the political left, who blame everyone but themselves for their petulant, self-serving actions.

I prefer to look at her as a spoiled brat, one whose career clearly is in tatters, as she has lost gigs all over the place since the posting, including from ultra-liberal CNN, the entity that clearly defines the term "Politically Correct."

If she truly wants to repair her career, she should lay low right now, take a deep breath, and then come back.

It has been done before. The public spankings that celebrities like Pee Wee Herman and Marv Albert received because of their past actions was tempered by long periods of invisibility.

After these periods, they came back, came back strong, and people forgave and forgot.

I would suggest to Griffin that she do the same.

You can't shoot yourself in the head, blame everyone else, and expect to get sympathy from anyone.

It is time for her to chill out.

Terror in England Continues: This past weekend saw more terror acts committed in England, this time in London.

The attacks were on the fabled London Bridge and in a retail district of London, and left many dead and injured.

And as usual, Isis has claimed credit for the attack as England prepared for further attacks.

What more can one say about these attacks that hasn't already been said? They are heartless, inhuman, ridiculous, and the only purpose they serve is to demonstrate that the world is in World War III, but this is a different type of war than any other war ever seen.

It is being festered in social media, and then brought to the streets, where assassins don't care who they kill and maim, as long as their inane message gets out.

It is time to put PC feelings aside, and it is time for countries around the world to unite to rid the world of such terror.

President Trump has tried to do this, has been thwarted, been called every word in the book (see Kathy Griffin, among others), and continues to try to warn the U.S., and the world, that these acts will continue unless a massive undertaking takes place.

When people rally against such actions, you really have to wonder where they are coming from, and why they oppose this.

Again, as I said before, PC is dead, or at least should be now, and Trump and other leaders have lots to undo to make our world safe again.

People that can't see the forest for the trees should be pitied, and they also should open their eyes to a much different world than they were born into.

Yankees Continue To Be in First Place: Happily, with all of this horror around us, we still have some diversions to take our mind off of things, and yes, we have baseball.

In what is turning into a fun season, the New York Yankees still sit in first place in the American League East.

The Yankees are usually the most hated team in America, because of their bloated presence and overarching success, but this year, things are a quite bit different.

They haven't been outstanding in years, but this year was supposed to be nothing but a rebuilding season, a season where they gave their young kids a try at becoming full-fledged stars.

But in the unlikeliest of scenarios, not only have their younger players risen to the task, they have over-excelled, and thus far, have become the best team in their division and one of the best in baseball. Led by Aaron Judge, a seemingly once in a lifetime player whose presence at 6 foot, 8 inches is tempered by his demeanor, a true gentle giant who hits home runs with wallops not seen since the days of Mickey Mantle.

The season is still young, and thus, there is still skepticism that the Yankees can continue to be such a ferocious team, but whatever the case, the Bronx Bombers--a team with lots of young talent both on the major league level and still to come in the minors, as well as a number of still-good veterans--have made a statement, a fun team to watch in Fun City.

Update on My Current Job Situation:

That's that for now.

Classic Rant #571 (August 31, 2011): Katia?

Back to hurricane talk ...

I hate to tell you this, but another one may be on its way to our shores.

Tropical Storm Katia is gaining strength as it moves across the Atlantic, and weather forecasters say that it could become a hurricane later today.

Katia has sustained winds near 65 mph with additional strengthening expected.

The storm's forecast track shows it could become a major hurricane over the weekend.

Right now, Katia is centered about 985 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and is moving west-northwest near 21 mph.

And if you were wondering, the storm's name replaces Katrina in the rotating storm roster because of the catastrophic damage from the 2005 hurricane that devastated New Orleans.

They certainly don't want to use that name again--ever.

But Katia? What kind of name is that? I never heard of the name before.

The name, pronounced KAH-tyah, evidently it is a variant of Katya, but my very brief research shows that some claim it is of Russian origin, others claim it is of Spanish origin.

Whatever the case, is this the second such storm that will hit the East Coast this year?

I don't know. Of course, I hope not.

But the other day, while watching the storm coverage on local TV here, one of the meteorologists said that it could happen with this storm. He discounted the storm after Irene, which I think was named Jose, and said that this one, Katia, was one to keep an eye on.

Although Irene was nothing more than a whimper in my neck of the woods, I know for others, it was a nightmare.

So who needs another hurricane?

(And by the way, my sister's name is Gail. I know that's not Gale, as in strong wind, but it's close enough.)