Classic Rant #797 (September 3, 2012): Labor Day Indeed

Today is Labor Day.

Most of you who are reading this have the day off from work. You can frolic with your family, have a barbecue, and enjoy yourself on the unofficial last day of summer.

I can't. I have to work today.

Yes, I labor on Labor Day, and I am not too happy about it, to tell you the truth.

Sure, we get the day back to us as a "makeup" day later when we need it, but laboring on Labor Day when everyone else is off is a pain the neck, adding to the pinched nerve in my neck that I already have.

I have read the "Dennis the Menace" comic strip seemingly since I could read, and today's panel pretty much summarizes how I get into my own mind that working on Labor Day isn't that bad.

Dennis tells Joey and Margaret the following:

"What's so good about Labor Day? We don't get presents and there's nothin' special to eat."

That is about the only way I can get through this day.

And by the way, my wife is working, too, so the day isn't the best day of the year in my household.

Not by a long shot.

So while you are swimming, barbecuing, watching a baseball game, or taking it easy, think of me and my plight.

No, I don't think you will, but evidently, the world doesn't stop on Labor Day.

And by the way, there won't be a blog entry tomorrow, because I am finally seeing the doctor again related to my recent MRI.

I will see you again on Wednesday, hopefully with some good news.

See you then.

Rant #2,143: Happy Birthday

Today is one of the most important days of my life, as 30 years ago today--on May 15, 1988--I became a father for the first time.

My daughter was born that day, and my life changed forever from the moment that she came into this world to now, and into the future.

She was my little bundle of joy, the cutest little kid that I had ever seen, with a full head of pitch black hair that was incredible to see.

I held her, I fed her, and I cleaned her.

She was part of me, and will always be part of me.

I went to all her big events, or at least, all her big events that I knew about, since as you know, I am divorced from her mother and my daughter did not live with me.

Every time I saw her, she seemed to grow up even more, and now, she is 30 years old.

I just cannot believe that it is that long ago, but it was.

She is a young lady now, gainfully employed, with her own life to live.

I do wish that I was a bigger part of her life, but I have done all I can do to make that happen.

She is her own person, and she does what she does and there is nothing I can do about it.

But whatever she does, I am very proud of her.

There have been obstacles in her path from the moment she was born, but she has hurdled just about all of them.

When I see her, I get a good feeling in my heart, and honestly, I wish I could see her more to experience that feeling not just occasionally, but over and over and over.

I just have to reflect back to those moments I remember from days long past ... when she was trying to talk, and she said "seena" to mean "pick me up" and "boma" when she wanted my mother.

I remember her sitting in the high chair and me giving her a drink of soda for the first time ... she made a face at the bubbles, but then, waving her arms, she wanted more.

I remember taking her to every McDonald's in our neck of the woods--she loved their hamburgers back then--and I remember the long discussions we used to have about "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," another one of her favorite things back then.

I remember seeing her off to school every year when she was younger, and how proud I was of her as she got onto the school bus to begin her journey there.

Later, I remember feeling 10 feet tall when she graduated all her schools, from grammar school up through college.

Sure, for every good thing I remember, there were plenty of bad things too, but who wants to think of such things on such a great day like today?

Now, she is 30 years old, and I simply cannot believe that that little peanut I held in one hand is really now a full grown young lady (yes, that is her in the photo with my son).

Not only was she my first born, but she was the first grandchild on both her mom's and my side, and she is the only female grandchild that my parents have. I believe she was also the first great grandchild, too, but I know she was on my side at least.

I look forward to seeing her again. There were some schedule conflicts, so I won't see her until next week, but I am sure it will all be worth waiting for.

So happy birthday if you are reading this, and if not, I will send a message telepathically to you as best as I can do.

"I hope you has a great birthday, and that this very special day is one to cherish for you.

Love and kisses!

Have a great birthday, and I will see you soon."

Classic Rant #796 (August 31, 2012): Joltin' Joe ... The Drink?

Joe DiMaggio was an icon to many as one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the sport.

His 56-game hitting streak is a record that may stand forever.

And later in life, he kept in the headlines as first, the husband of Marilyn Monroe and later on, as the spokesperson for Mr. Coffee.

But now, DiMaggio, who passed on many years ago, will be promoting a new beverage, with his likeness adorning its can.

AriZona Beverages will soon be offering "Joltin' Joe," a lightly carbonate espresso, to its line of soft drinks.

It already offers Arnold Palmer varieties, so this is another step in its plan of linking sports icons with beverages.

And it reportedly is legit, with Joe DiMaggio LLC, which has rights to license the Yankee Clipper's image, giving their permission.

According to news reports, the can will feature a young DiMaggio, several photos of newspaper headlines about the 56-game feat, but it will be missing one major image ...

The New York Yankees logo on his cap. Instead, his cap will have a "USA" log on it.

I guess they couldn't get permission from the Yankees to use the iconic, interlocking "N-Y" logo.

I really don't know what to think of this. Images of many icons--everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Groucho Marx--have been legally used after their deaths to sell various things. Heck, DiMaggio's former wife's image has been used for decades, hasn't it?

Why not Joe DiMaggio?

But on the other hand, if you have to use an image like this, doesn't it cheapen the product?

And since these drinks are marketed to young people, do they really know who Joe DiMaggio was/is?

But it gets a lot of press, so I guess it already is generating a buzz that the drink itself probably won't ever deliver.

But what's next? Babe Ruth candy?

Oh, that's right, that's happened already ... although not really, because Baby Ruth bars have nothing ot do with Ruth, although most people think it does.

And since that candy has been around for generations, I guess the icon/food mix is a viable one.

Here's to Joltin' Joe.

Will it add to AriZona's hit streak?

Arizona?

No, it's made in Brooklyn!

Rant #2,142: The Girls Song

We celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, and it was a good day for all in my family.

My wife and I went to the cemetery to pay our respects to her mom, who passed away in 1993.

We also paid respects to other family members on my wife's side who are buried at this cemetery, including my wife's grandmother.

And no, we did not take pictures of the grave sites. My wife and I briefly talked about the latest trend, to take pictures with your phone of the graves of loved ones, and then post them on Facebook.

Personally, we both think it shows disrespect for the dead to do this, but some people think it is a great way to honor their loved ones, so, to each his own ... but it is not our cup of tea.

We then went to pick up our son from work, and then a little later on, the three of us went to my sister's house to celebrate the holiday.

My sister brought in pizza and Chinese food, and it was all good.

And here are the three ladies we celebrated yesterday: my wife, my sister and my mother.

This is not the greatest photo--admittedly, I am still learning to use my phone as a camera, and I still prefer to use my camera as a camera--but at least I had the day's three honorees lined up in a row.

My sister, in the middle, was talking to two of her sons--one away at school, the other who lives in California--and it made my sister's day that they called her on this special day.

Her other son was away studying for finals.

We all had a good time, and then it was time to go home, which we did.

It was miserable weather yesterday in my neck of the woods, with rain off and on just about the entire day, and it was also about 20 degrees cooler than it should have been.

The Yankees game was delayed a few hours, but dressed in full Mother's Day regalia--pink hats, pink socks, pink bats and even some pink catcher's equipment and pink lampblack--the Bronx Bombers played the Oakland Athletics, and beat them 6-2.

My wife and I watched the game to its conclusion--around 7 pm, so it was a very long day for those who came to the Stadium for a supposed 1 p.m. start--and then we scuffled around for something else to watch.

Cozi TV shows "The Munsters" for two hours on Sunday nights, and we watched that for a while. I fell asleep, but my wife tried to stay up for AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead," but at this point, since I was fast asleep, I don't know if she made it or not.

So that was our day, and now we start another busy workweek.

The weekends, whether they are holiday weekends or non-holiday weekends, just go so quickly, that it seems we blink and they are over.

This one buzzed by too, and it was a good one, one where for at least two days, we could forget about work and recharge our batteries a bit.

But two days never seem to be enough.

Classic Rant #795 (August 30, 2012): Great Sidekick

It seems that every "star" has a great sidekick with him or her, a person who isn't the star, but shares the same experiences as the person that the focus is on.

Sherrif Andy Taylor had his deputy, Barney Fife, on "The Andy Griffith Show."

Bus Driver Ralph Kramden had plumber Art Carney on "The Honeymooners."

Housewife and show business wannabe Lucy Ricardo had fellow housewife and former vaudevillian Ethel Mertz on "I Love Lucy."

And several major TV stars have had Bill Daily as a sidekick, on shows like "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Bob Newhart Show."

Daily turns 85 today, and if there was a "Sidekicks Hall of Fame," he would probably be inducted on the first ballot.

On "I Dream of Jeannie," he played Roger Healey, fellow astronaut to Larry Hagman's Tony Nelson character. They both knew the secret of Jeannie, played by gorgeous Barbara Eden, that she was actually a genie that Nelson unleased from a bottle he found after a launch touchdown.

The show was filmed in a breakneck pace, with each episode breathlessly revolving around Eden's encounters with the new world around her, and Hagman and Daily's efforts to cover up for her and her doings.

Each of the three stars fit their roles perfectly, which was one of the major selling points of the show. Sure, it was pure fantasy, but Daily and the others were so good that you actually believed the whole concocted story.

Daily success on this show led him to another memorable sidekick turn, as Howard Borden, the insecure airplane pilot and next door neighbor of the Hartleys on "The Bob Newhart Show."

Where on "Jeannie," Daily's acting skills were pretty much rolled up into a manic ball, on the "Newhart" show, he really had to act.

Always coming into the Hartley's apartment--Bob Newhart and luscious Suzanne Pleshette--seemingly at the wrong time, Daily's character was insecure, and a great sidekick to Newhart's psychologist character, who was also not the most secure person in the world.

It was probably Daily's signature character, and he was all over television in the 1970s. If he wasn't on the "Newhart" show, he was on "The Match Game."

He also starred on a few shows where he was the top banana, but they all failed miserably.

He, like Don Knotts, was very capable, but was sort of in a TV caste system.

Once a sidekick, always a sidekick.

Although you will continue to find Daily in reruns all over the tube, he is pretty much retired now, although he does pop up from time to time, especially on radio.

He has been a guest on New York WABC's "Saturday Night" program hosted by Mark Simone, and he has also filled in on occasion as a radio host on stations out west.

Daily's legacy is that he was among the best TV sidekicks of all time, and you can see that in reruns of "I Dream of Jeannie" and "The Bob Newhart Show" that continue to run all the time.

It probably isn't easy to be a second banana, but Daily took the peel off of the job and did it as well as anybody.

Rant #2,141: Mama Told Me (To Come)

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

Yes, I am wishing all of you ladies a happy Mother's Day two days early because I generally do not write blog posts on Sundays, and that is when what some call "the holiest day of the year" occurs.

Without our moms, we would not be here. Yes, the same could be said of fathers, too, but we have our day next month, so let's focus on moms right now.

They are our first best friends, because we grow inside of them.

When the time comes after nine months, they are the ones that bear us.

And when the time comes, they are basically the ones who nurture us.

Dads are there, too, but our relationship with our fathers is similar, but different.

Often the first words we say as babies is "mama," and there is a clear, distinct reason for that.

I don't know if my first word was "mama," but I respect my mother with all my heart.

And the same could be said for my wife, the mother of my son, who is a mother through and through.

And my sister, well, she made me an uncle, gave me three nephews who are so different in nature that it is hard to believe that they came from the same parents.

Yes, mothers are the best people in the world, and on Sunday, we celebrate their greatness, but we really should be celebrating 365 days a year, because mothers are that good.

And on Mother's Day, I often think about my grandmothers. Even though they have both been deceased since the 1990s, they live on in my heart. They were two great people, and I will never forget them.

So, what are you doing on the big day?

My wife and I will visit the cemetery to pay our respects to my wife's mom. She passed away a few months after we were married, and although I didn't really get to know her well, she was a very kind, sweet person. I wish she could be here now to see how her grandchildren have grown and become part of society. I think she would be really proud.

Then, we will go to my sister's house. She always hosts Mother's Day, and we have a lot of fun there. She really works hard, and has been through many ups and downs with her sons, but I know deep down that they really love their mom for all that she has done for them.

Yes, we will exchange some gifts--you know about the bathing suit story from earlier this week--but the day is not about gifts, it is really about love and respect.

Just the other day, I was thinking about mix tapes, those ubiquitous cassettes that we all used to make in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, where we would put our favorite songs together and listen to them on our Walkmans or in the car cassette player.

This practice carried over, to a certain extent, into the early 2000s, when we began to record on CD-Rs, but the practice is old hat now, what with streaming and being able to get and listen to just about any song on the Internet.

But if I were to compile an old-fashioned mix tape today, what songs might be on that tape?

Here is a sample of some of the best "mama" and "mother" songs of all time, a good top 20 to at least start off with:

"Mama" - B.J. Thomas (1966, #22)
"Mama" - Connie Francis (1960, #8)
"Mama" - Genesis (1983, #73)
"Mama Can't Buy You Love" - Elton John (1979, #9)
"Mama, I'm Coming Home - Ozzy Osbourne (1992, #28)
"Mama Said" - Shirelles (1961, #4)
"Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" - Three Dog Night (1970, #1)
"Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer" - Sonny and Cher (1977, #73)
"Mama Weer All Crazee Now" - Slade (1973, #76)/Quiet Riot (1984, #51)
"Mama's Pearl" - Jackson 5 (1971, #2)
"Mother" - John Lennon (1971, #43)
"Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon (1972, #4)
"Mother Freedom" - Bread (1971, #37)
"Mother-In-Law" - Ernie K-Doe (1961, #1)
"Mother Nature" - Temptations (1972, #92)
"Mother Nature, Father Time" - Brook Benton (1965, #53)
"Mother Please!" - Jo Ann Campbell (1963, #88)
"Mother Popcorn" - James Brown (1969, #11)
"Mother's Little Helper" - Rolling Stones (1966, #8)
"Mother's Talk" - Tears For Fears (1986, #27)

These 21 songs--yes, I gave you a bonus tune since Slade and Quiet Riot warbled the same tune, 11 years apart--should get you started, and I am sure there are plenty of others to compile into a nice, holiday-oriented mix tape.

So, whatever the case, have a great Mother's Day. I know that spending the day with my wife, and also my mother and my sister, will make it great!

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

Clasic Rant #794 (August 29, 2012): Losing Their Way To Popularity

When a baseball team loses 100 games during a 162 game season, you have to rate it as pretty bad.

But what happens when a team loses 120 games in a season?

In 1962, the New York Mets--and expansion team in the National League--lost 120 games during their inaugural season.

Led by manager Casey Stengel, the Mets set the modern record for baseball futility, and today is the 50th anniversary of the team losing their 100th game of the season.

They played the Phillies, and lost 3-2, with their record standing at 34-100.

The team managed to win six of its next 26 games--two games weren't played due to rainouts--and the team's first season ended with 120 losses.

Made up of way past their prime stars and lots of young kids, the Mets were the exact opposite of their cross-town rivals, the Yankees.

The Yankees won seemingly every year, and they did that year too, winning the World Series against the Giants.

But these Mets were lovable losers. New York had been without a National League team since the Giants and Dodgers left New York for California at the end of the 1957 season, so five years was a long time.

Branch Rickey was devising a rival baseball league, and the linchpin for that league--the Continental League--was a New York franchise.

Major League Baseball got scared, and granted expansion franchises to New York and Houston, and the Mets and the then-named Houston Colt 45s started playing in 1962.

Old Dodger and Giant fans embraced the team, and even though they lost 120 games, their futility was almost a virtue.

During those years, you expected the Yankees to win, and you expected the Mets to lose. It was a corporate team versus a team of nobodies, and the Mets' fan base embraced their team perhaps like no other.

As the 1960s went on, things changed. The Yankees went through a period of losing that they had never seen, culminating in a last place finish in 1966 and 10 more years of futility.

The Mets were terrible, too, until 1969, when they fully captured the hearts and minds of baseball fans the world over with their improbable World Series win over the Orioles.

Of course, things have pretty much gotten back to "normal" in the intervening years.

The Mets have had a few good teams over the past 40 some-odd years--the 1986 team was one of the best New York teams ever--but basically as we look at 2012, the Mets are battling to stay out of last place and the Yankees are battling to stay in first place.

The more things change the more they stay the same, I guess.

Having been a Yankee fan my whole life, I have had an opportunity to look at the Mets from the outside looking in. Those rabid fans of the early days aren't much around anymore. The Mets have made many moves over the past decade that defy understanding, and they continue to be the second team in a town where the Yankees have ruled since the 1990s.

Mets fans demand more from their team, especially with a new ballpark and with ticket prices through the roof.

The 2012 Mets are far from that lovable bunch of yore.

But 50 years ago, they were something else, something else indeed.

Ashburn, Kanehl, Woodling, Christopher, Throneberry, Neal, Coleman, Hickman, Chacon, Hook, Craig ...

They were certainly "the gang that couldn't play straight," but they endeared themselves to New York like a bagel with cream cheese does.

But even that bagel with cream cheese doesn't taste the same in 2012 as it did in 1962.