Classic Rant #952 (April 29, 2013): 58 + 1 (Day)

As I alerted you to on Friday, I did have my birthday yesterday.

I reached the magic number of 56.

I don't know why it is a magic number, but to me, reaching 56 years of age is a milestone, so maybe it is a magic number.

With one day of hindsight under my belt--56 + one day--I can provide to you a good picture of what I did yesterday to celebrate my big day.

How did I celebrate?

The celebration commenced on Saturday. My wife took myself and our son out to dinner at a local Chinese all-you-can-eat place.

There are a number of these in our environs, but most of them are pretty bad.

This particular restaurant is one of the few that is quite good.

So we had a nice meal, then we came home, and I passed out watching TV.

No, not fainted, just fell asleep really early, like at 9:30 or so, maybe even earlier, I just don't remember.

Then for my actual birthday on Sunday ...

I woke up the normal time on Sunday, did my usual things, and had a few of the cupcakes my wife made to celebrate the occasion.

My son iced them, unbeknownst to my wife, which made her angry, but he meant well. He wanted to help my wife with the cupcakes, but he made a bit of a mess.

But heck, it all winds up in my stomach anyway, so it wasn't a catastrophe. We all laughed about it afterward.

I received my gifts. My wife bought me some much needed shirts--I wear them out pretty well, so these should last a while before I need new ones--and my parents gave me some money.

My daughter came over for a time, bought me a lunch bag--the one I am using is still usable but falling apart, so when it goes, I have a new one to use--and my sister called to wish me congratulations. I also spoke to my wife's brother, and he wished me a good day, too.

I then went out, got my son his "much needed" Wii controller--he has had the game for a while, and one of the controllers died last week, we bought a replacement, and it didn't work for some reason, so he needed another one--and then I came home, and as is my tradition, I gave my wife and son gifts too.

I bought my son WWE wrestling tickets for June, when pro wrestling comes to Nassau Coliseum, perhaps for the last time.

I bought my wife iTunes cards, so she can download a show which I think is called "The Walking Dead." She has been catching up with the three seasons of the show on NetFlix, so this way, she can watch the most recent season right now.

Then I settled down for the rest of the afternoon, which was going to be sports, sports and more sports.

I watched the Knicks and Celtics battle it out in a terrific game that the Knicks lost. They come back to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, when I hope the Knicks close out the Celtics for good.

The game went into overtime, so I missed the Yankees sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays were supposed to be the top team in the division, but they appear to be headed to be this year's Miami Marlins, a team that made many trades to upgrade its roster but which isn't meshing at all.

The Yankees, however, have had one major injury after another, yet they are playing better than anyone could have dreamed. I watched the highlights, and then moved over to non-sports stuff.

MeTV ran a contest yesterday. Every Sunday, they have a four-hour block of themed programming, where they pair old shows by a common theme. Yesterday, they had the viewers guess the theme.

At first, I thought it was guest stars on the shows that they put on who were born on April. 28, because on one of the shows, "The Mod Squad," the guest star was Carolyn Jones, most famous for her role as Morticia on "The Addams Family," who shares a birthday with me. But I soon saw that that guess was wrong. It took me about two and a half shows, and I was able to figure it out.

No, I am not going to tell you what the theme was, because I want to win a trip that they offered, or at least a T-shirt.

Anyway, we had dinner--peppers and eggs, which was very good and very filling--and my family and I settled down to a nice evening, just watching more TV and relaxing.

I went to bed, as did my wife and son, at 10 p.m. and that was it.

Some might say I did absolutely nothing on my actual birthday, but I say just the opposite.

I did plenty. I did exactly what I wanted, which, to me, was the best gift I could have given to myself.

My daughter's birthday is next, on May 15, and I hope she has as nice a day as I had yesterday.

Thanks to everyone for a nice birthday.

Rant #2,302: Breakdown

My allergies are still bad, I still can't see clearly now, and I will give some extra effort to try to not make any spelling mistakes in what I write today.

About the only good thing is that in about two hours or so, my eyes will be fine, I will be able to see everything pretty clearly, and since I am a writer, that is absolutely necessary in the work I do.

Anyway, the partial government shutdown advances to another day today, and I really feel for those that have become the "collateral damage" of this situation, the government workers who are not getting paid.

My feeling is that that fact is a bad one, that thousands of government workers are not getting paid, and are going to have to somehow get by until this thing gets settled.

And you know when this thing is going to get settled? When more people are impacted by the shutdown, and I mean directly, and that means those getting Social Security, whose next payment might be in doubt.

Look, it is bad enough when several hundred thousand workers don't get their paychecks, but when the millions on Social Security don't get their money ... there will be an uproar that is heard from coast to coast, in every state of the union, and those blunderheads in Washington will be forced to sit down and work this thing out.

You just wait and see. I guarantee it.

Now another possible shutdown might be happening this weekend, but it is not being enforced by the government.

We here in the northeast are preparing for what weather forecasters are saying is going to be a major winter storm, but this one won't be like others we have had in recent winters, because this one isn't going to be all snow--it is going to be a mix of rain, icy rain, and snow.

Temperatures are also going to go from the freezing mark at 32 degrees down to the single digits, making things all that much harder for everyone.

It appears that we did get a sprinkle of snow, as was predicted, overnight. I just looked out the window, and yes, my car and the streets are covered. But that is merely a little peek into what we are supposed to be getting from Saturday night into Sunday, when it is supposed to be really, really bad.

The weather situation will force people to stay indoors, talk to each other, and stifle many weekend events and plans.

I guess it could be worse, but I am banking on a lot of rain so that I won't have to shovel the white stuff.

I hate shoveling, I have grown to hate the snow as I have gotten older, and I feel the only people who like the snow are the ones who don't have to shovel it.

So let's see what happens this weekend.

If, in fact, we are snowed in, I plan on listening to and digitizing more music, watching a movie or two, and just relaxing, if that is possible.

How will you spend your frigid weekend?

Hopefully in a warmer climate.

Speak to you on Monday. Try to have a great weekend.

Classic Rant #951 (April 26, 2013): Another Year Under My Belt

Happy birthday to me.

Well, not just yet, but happy birthday to me anyway.

My birthday is on Sunday, April 28, and since I don't write any Rants on the weekend, I figured I would celebrate a little early.

I will be 56 years old on that day.

It seems the years have gone fast.

My mother has often told me that as a young child, I was clearly "Larry the Menace," getting into everything and being a real pain in the butt.

She has told me a story that one time, she was shopping with me, and visibly pregnant with my sister, who was born at the tail end of 1959. I was so bad that she was standing on line to check out, and another woman actually had the nerve to say to her, "And you want another child?"

I could swear that only yesterday, I was playing in the mud in the grime of my old stomping grounds in Rochdale Village, South Jamaica Queens, New York.

Even though I haven't lived in New York City since 1971, I am a city kid at heart, always will be.

The suburbs have been my home since then, but you can take the kid out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the kid.

Fast forward all these years, and I have several layers of education under my belt, married (twice), have two kids, and a halfway decent job.

Looking back five years, one of the most tumultuous times of my life played out back then, and I prefer where I am now.

On April 24, my car died after being on life support for several months.

On April 25, I bought a new car.

On April 27, I had horrible pains in my stomach, and was rushed to the hospital.

On April 28, I had gall bladder surgery, the best birthday present I ever gave to myself.

Wow, what a ride it has been.

And I plan on being here many more years.

I just had my physical, and other than being a bit overweight and having some minor cholesterol issues, I am fit as a fiddle.

I have a great wife, a great family, so why complain?

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

Rant #2,301: Everyday I Read the Book

My allergies are really bad today, and they are affecting my eyesight, so if you find several spelling errors in here, you'll know why, and I will try to correct all of them later, when, hopefully, my eyes are working a bit better than they are now, just shy of 4:30 a.m. in the morning.

Anyway, when was the last time you read a good book?

And I mean, actually read a book, not an ebook or listened to the reading of one on your car radio?

Personally, I love to read, but I don't often have the time to sit down and actually read a real, honest to goodness book, but sometimes, you just have to make the time.

Such was the case for "Me, the Mob and the Music" by Tommy James, which has been out for 10 years now but which I finally got around to reading.

The story is kind of a cross between "Jersey Boys" and "Goodfellas," as young Tommy Jackson, from Niles, Mich., makes his way up the ladder of the music business, finally reaching the top as Tommy James with his backing band, various incarnations of the Shondells.

Helping to propel him to the top of the music business in the mid 1960s through the mid 1970s was not only a bushelful of hits--"I Think We're Alone Now," "Mirage," "Crystal Blue Persuasion," "Crimson and Clover" and "Sweet Cherry Wine" among them--but one Morris Levy, the head of New York-based Roulette Records, a successful record label that was also a front for the mob.

James had a love/hate relationship with Levy, who had his fingers in so many nefarious things that you would think his hand would literally fall off from the pulling of his fingers every which way, and James talks about being stiffed on millions and millions of dollars in royalties during his most prolific music period by Levy--and he could do nothing about it, simply because he didn't want to have his head blown off by the mob.

All through those years, there were affairs, pills, booze and lots of other stuff to pacify the frustrated musician, and James pulls no punches when he blames both Levy and himself for his ups and downs during that period of his life.

The book weaves the reader through the inner workings of the mob, with all the rub outs, threats and double dealing that went on, with Levy at the pulse of seemingly everything.

James is on the straight and narrow now, but he himself was headed to self destruction, and he describes how he rebounded from all of that stuff to become a satisfied human being.

The book is a fun read, and you don't have to be a music fan to enjoy this book, as it takes you on a ride with James and many of the skunks and casualties of those days.

For years, this story has been rumored to have been bound for either the silver screen or Broadway, but since nothing seems to be happening in the imminent future, I would read this book now and wait for the other stuff to happen.

The other book I am going to recommend, but not has highly, is "The Rhino Records Story: Revenge of the Music Nerds" by Harold Bronson, one of the founders of the Rhino Records imprint, which took the bull by the horns and became America's top oldies outlet.

Like in the James book, the Rhino story is filled with a bunch of colorful characters, who took a dream, were at the right place at the right time, and even though they stumbled a bit in the process, were able to come away with a true rags to riches story about American know-how and tenacity.

Bronson and Richard Foos, among many others, had a vision that oldies music from the 1950s and 1960s should be as cherished and prized as current music--then the 1970s--was, and they impressed both themselves and others with their knowledge, know how and pinache that all came from an actual, single Rhino Records store on the outskirts of Hollywood, which soon became two stores, and later became a burgeoning record label.

And it all started with cutout records, used records and bootlegs!

Bronson does not leave one stone untouched in his more than 300-page book, and often times, I found that I was getting lost when reading it, trying to remember who the numerous people were that helped Rhino become successful, as Bronson rarely uses last names beyond the first reference, so you have the Larrys and the Richards and the Johns, but it is often difficult to figure out just who he is talking about.

And again, it seems that Bronson feels the need to cram as much information into the pages of the book as possible, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but at times, detracts from the basic rags to riches story of the label, probably the first American record label to hold oldies music in such high esteem.

Nonetheless, I would recommend the book because it is a true American story, features a number of colorful characters, and it is an informative read.

No, there won't be a Broadway musical or feature film based on this book, but you can't go wrong on a label that has put out music from all over the music spectrum, including that of Tommy James, so the books kind of intersect each other in an interesting way.

So, if you haven't sat down with a good book lately, here are two tomes that might suit your fancy.

Both are fun reads on different levels.

Classic Rant #950 (April 25, 2013): Tattoo You ... Not Me

President Obama has finally taken a stand that I agree with 100 percent.

It has nothing to do with foreign or domestic policy, it has to do with family policy, maybe the most important policy of them all, because it literally sets the groundwork for everything else.

The President told his daughters that if they ever get tattooed, he and the First Lady and First Mom, Michelle, will get the exact design tattooed on the same place on their bodies.

He added, "And we'll go on YouTube and show if off as a family tattoo," he said on NBC's "Today" show.

The President believes that this type of thinking will dissuade Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11, from ever getting inked.

Tattoos are a current fad that goes back eons, but the latest craze is really pretty disgusting. The tattoos are large, garish, and stand out like no other tattoos I have ever seen.

I don't like tattoos. I believe it cheapens one's body to make yourself into a walking, talking body of graffiti, although others think it is about expression.

To me, there are better ways to express yourself than through tattoos. It just cheapens what you have.

And today, it seems the more the better--up and down the arm, on the legs, on the chest, and even on the face.

And to me, nothing is more disgusting than seeing a woman with tattoos.

Call me sexist--and I must say that I proudly am--but a woman with tattoos completely turns me off.

Look, I know that many of you will disagree with my, and the President's, views. You believe that tattoos are nice, and the more the better.

Bu heck, I see high school kids with tattoos.

In my generation, you wore your hair long or you wore certain clothes to show what you believed in.

You could get a haircut, and you could wear different clothes if your mood changed.

But tattoos are permanent. They don't come off so easily, except through painstaking laser procedures.

What happens if your mood changes, and you want the thing off?

The cure seems to be worse than the disease to me.

And let's be honest about it. If I am an employer, I don't care how good your qualifications are, if you have a noticeable tattoo, you won't get the job.

As a Jew, we are not supposed to get tattoos. The feeling is that you leave this earth as you go in, and that means without drawings on your body.

Jews were tattooed by the Nazis in World War II, and that is ever more the reason for Jews not to get tattooed.

But that aside, I find them to be a turnoff, plain and simple, so I applaud the President's actions.

I hope his daughters get it.

I don't know what brought this on in the Obama household, but I hope other families do the same thing and take the same stand.

It might not work, but then again, it just might.


..

Rant #2,300: Congratulations

Today, I am going to congratulate myself, because we have reached another milestone at the Ranting and Raving Blog.

As you can see, today is the 2,300th post at the blog, which I think is a pretty big accomplishment.

Blogs come and go, but for the past nearly 10 years, you could trust that this blog would be here, every weekday--or every weekday that I was able to put something together--and that we would talk about this, that and the other thing, unlike other blogs, which focus on one topic.

And again, I don't make a thin dime from this blog. I do it for fun, as an outlet to get my feelings and beliefs and what I happen to know--and don't know--out there, and if you want to find this blog, you have to really look for it, because I only promote it on Facebook.

It is not in the popular search engines, so if you are here, you are to be congratulated for finding this site and sticking with it for the past nearly a decade or so.

Having reached this mark, I know that other blogs are way past this as far as posts, but you know what? I am not here in a competition with them, so if they have more posts than this blog does, congratulations to them. It doesn't impact anything that I do here.

Who actually reads this blog, day in and day out?

Let's take a brief look at the demographics.

Based on the page views by country statistics that I have at my disposal, I see that nearly three of every four views (74.8 percent) that happen here are from those in the United States, which should not surprise anyone.

However, it is interesting to see who else is reading the blog on a daily basis and where they are located around the world.

Dwarfed by the U.S. total, but in second place, is Germany (8.45 percent), followed by the Philippines, Portugal and Russia, all at 2.84 percent.

Others who read the blog, in fewer numbers, come from France, the United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, and what the analytics list as "Unknown Region."

Maybe that "Unknown Region" is hell, but it could also be heaven, I really don't know, but that is how it is listed.

Most people who view the blog do so through Windows (27 percent), followed by Android and Mac (both 19 percent) and iPhone (13 percent). Others do it through Linux, iPad, and Unix.

By browser, most people (58 percent) use Chrome, followed by Safari (23 percent) and CriOS (8 percent). Mobile, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Headless Chrome and Opera are other tools that they use to get here.

So yes, this is a pretty well-rounded blog with a pretty well-rounded audience, and it makes me proud to put up these numbers for you to see--people are reading this blog from a variety of sources.

And, of course, a countless amount of people read what I have to say each weekday on Facebook, probably hundreds of people, so who really knows the true reach of what my words have to say?

The great thing about this blog is that I can say what I want to say. You can agree, be offended, or be somewhere in the middle, and that is all fine. As long as it isn't nasty, I can take or leave what you think, and that is truly a wonderful thing.

And right now, I have absolutely no intention of stopping this blog. There is no reason to, really, and it is a lot of fun putting this thing together each weekday.

So thanks for visiting, come back for more, and we should hit the next plateau--2,400 posts--sometime in July or August.

Once again, thanks for visiting, and come again!

Classic Rant #949 (April 24, 2013): New York Sports

I am a sports fan.

No bones about it, I am a sports fan.

I have my favorites, of course.

I love baseball and basketball, and I really can't stand football and hockey.

I have always loved baseball. It is the first sport I understood and the first sport I played, and it is as much a part of me as my blood is.

I grew up in an urban environment, and basketball is king in that environment.

I was never much of an athlete, but I always liked playing--and watching--baseball and basketball.

The other sports I can live without, and in addition to hockey and football, I have no use for tennis, golf and soccer.

I also like bowling, too, but that is an individual sport, not really a team sport.

Anyway, right now, sports in my neck of the woods is in a pretty exciting mode.

The baseball season is in full swing, and my Yankees are doing a bit better than everyone--including myself--thought.

I don't know if they are playoff bound, but with all the injuries they have had, many predicted them for a lowly finish.

Right now, they are near the top of their division, and if they can hold on until their many injured players come back--including Derek Jeter--they might make a run for it.

On the other side of the pond, the Mets are also playing way above expectations, led by many young players. I am not a Mets fan, never have been, but I am a baseball fan, and I marvel at the skills and talent level of their young players.

And then we have the Knicks.

No team captures the imagination of the general Metropolitan area populace as the Knicks.

They own this area, always have, always will, and when they are going good, everyone roots for them.

Right now, they are going quite good, beating the Celtics last night for the second game in a row in the first round of the playoffs.

With the best team they've had in 20 years--led by Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith--this team has a real chance to win a championship this year.

I am convinced of that.

And then we have the Nets, who might stand in the way of the Knicks as the two teams push for the championship.

In their first year in Brooklyn, the Nets captured the fancy of many fans, and they currently are deadlocked at 1-1 with the Chicago Bulls in the first round of their playoff series.

The Nets will always be the second team in New York, but it is fun to watch them battle.

So right now, New York sports are red hot.

With all the horrible things that have happened in other places lately--including nearby Boston--it is nice to take a break once in a while, and all of these local teams are providing that for fans.

What could be a better tonic right now?