IT'S ALARMING

In the not too distant past, we used to wake up to some serious rock and roll.  Then that station hired a couple of guys who preferred yakking to music and we changed to public radio.  This morning, when the alarm went off, the first thing I heard was that Israel has called up 16,000 more reservists.  I almost ache for the return of the yakkers.

Let me stroll out my bona fide credentials:  I want Israel to survive.  I happen also to believe that there needs to be a Palestinian state and, by having such thoughts, I am not a "bad " Jew.  I also thought "we" (meaning my tribe, the so called chosen people) were better than this.  Children are dying and have died in Gaza. Electricity and water are barely working.  Yes, Israel has the right to defend itself but we are verging into dangerous territory--and I am not just talking about the mounting casualties.  There is an ethical and moral side to this as well.  We are starting to fail the ethical and moral test when schools and UN shelters are bombed either by Israel or by misfired Hamas rockets.  It is alarming.

Ends and Odds
--Our Governor would like to open up a site for the immigrant children who are in detention along the US/Mexican border.  But it is becoming very clear that many of us in this state are not as welcoming as the Governor hoped--including some of our so called leaders.  Two great articles in the Globe about this.  One by a very Irish columnist who wondered how his grandparents would have gotten here during the Irish Potato Famine if not for America opening its borders.  The other was about Chelsea--a relatively poor and very Hispanic city just north of Boston.  This article focused on the school superintendent who made it very clear that her system is there to educate and not wonder about a child's legal status--and yet she acknowledged that there was a high percentage of her students who were not citizens.  BTW, you all do know our armed forces also take that position--don't need to be a citizen to fight for Uncle Sam.
--Two more typical and bizarre Globe stories.  The first about goats being let loose to clean up overgrown lots.  The second  about the Globe's decision to develop and operate a "Catholicism" website called Crux. Come on with all the Catholic stuff.  They are really becoming a paper with a very limited view of religion.
--John Boehner (he who has a perpetual tan) will not support impeachment but will support legislation to sue the President.  This is what we get from Republican leadership.  Oh, am I worried about the midterm elections and what might happen should they get control of the Senate.
--The mayor of New York while in Italy continues to eat pizza with a fork which apparently enrages all sorts of people with nothing else to do.
--Putin gets the Sochi Olympics which run $50 billion dollars over budget and then tells the rest of the world (especially Europe) to fuck off as he supports the Ukrainian separatists.  Terrific.
--Does anyone have or know where Kasey Kasem's body is--I am very worried.
--These two items only sound like sports.  A wonderful article in Sports Illustrated about Roger Angell, the 93 year old baseball writer for the New Yorker.  And there is this from ESPN.  One of their less than bright lights, Stephen A. Smith, said out loud that a certain football player's wife provoked him into abusing her. Fortunately two female sports journalists took him, stomped him so he hurt, and then kicked him to the curb.
--Off to the Berkshires tomorrow.  That young person from Austin will even join us.  You will hear from me again in September.  Hope you don't suffer any withdrawal pangs.
--Thinking a lot about Norma.

SPORTS TALK
--Lester has been traded.  Not a Sox fan but I think Cepedes is worth it.
--According to all the media hypers, the Patriots are guaranteed to be in the Super Bowl.  And according to other players on other teams, they would be foolish not to go after Gronk and try to hit his injured knee.  And you would let your kid play Pop Warner?
--The AL baseball teams are playing for one of the two wild card slots--the AL West will most assuredly have one while the second is what everyone is after.

Sayonara

LET'S PLAY MAKE BELIEVE

Let's pretend I live in Boston (turns out I do) along with a lot of other people.  Let's pretend there is a city across the river called Cambridge (turns out there is).  Let's pretend the name of the river is the Rio Grande (turns out it is called the Charles).  Let's pretend me and my friends want to live in Cambridge--they have better jobs, they have better housing, and they have no drug cartels like they do on my side of the river. Let's pretend it is illegal for me and me friends to go to Cambridge. And those mean Cambridge people stop us when we try to walk across the bridges, they stop our cars, and they stop our boats.  But we are both smart and resourceful so we hire guides (some of  them are called coyotes) to get us across often by swimming in the shallowest parts of the river.  Let's also pretend that except for a few residents of Cambridge who came over on the Mayflower, the rest of the residents all were either born in another country or their parents were or their grandparents were. Let's pretend, then, that most of them are either immigrants themselves or descendants of immigrants.

Let's quit pretending and just say that this immigration mess in which we send people back to strife torn countries (and some of those people are children) is fucked up.  The Ted Cruz's of the world who have forgotten their roots are mean spirited nasty unpleasant people.  And Obama blew it big time when he was in Texas and did not go to the border--are you serious?  Even if he was there for 5 minutes and patted two heads, he should have gone.  Yuck on him.

Speaking of children:  Three Israeli and one Palestinian teenager (not counting the number of dead since then) are dead.  Their parents have lost them forever and the adults on both sides are now blowing up each other.  I am beyond words.

Ends and Odds:
--The Governor of Maine is an idiot.
--The European countries also have mindless idiots fighting immigration openness--but did you notice that every European team had immigrants or immigrant descendants on their teams.  That seems to have worked out well--huh?
--So unemployment continues to slowly go down and the economy slowly improves and everyone still hates Obama.  Eric Holder was right--some of this is about race.
--And Boehner's (he who has a perpetual tan) response is to sue the President over Obamacare.
--Saw the wonderful, yet very sad, documentary about Roger Ebert.  What courage.
--Special Nike ad playing tonight focusing on Derek Jeter (and that is not about sports).
--A great documentary on POV/PBS last night about New Orleans and a race for City Council.

SPORTS TALK
--The U.S. deserved to lose to Belgium.  And no, I am not one of those who deems their performance so great.  This country has 300 fucking million people--we should be better.  I am one who believes playing in Europe is better for a player's improvement than MLS.  And Landon Donovan would not have made a difference.
--Germany was predictably boring and yet won.  That final goal against Argentina was just splendid.
--The Bruins for whatever reason blew it by not signing Iginla--they need goal scorers and I will not even get into my Seguin pet peeve.

N:  You may not get better but all of us love you and are here for you.

Sayonara.

H; S; Y; E; M; J

No, those letters are not code.  Nor are they some sort of new fangled word game.  They are the first name initials of the people in our lives who have died since last December.  Major losses all--some family; some friends--but all gone forever.  Some were old; some young.  Some passed away quickly; some too slowly. But since this blog is about me and I luckily am among the living, I have to take something/learn something from their passing.  Otherwise, I am wasting the rest of my time on this earth.  If I don't grab every day by the throat and squeeze as much out of it as I can, I have not learned anything. If I wallow in my own self pity, I have not learned anything.  If I don't enjoy and spend time with my family, I have not learned anything.  If I have not learned anything, what the hell am I doing?  

My thoughts are also with those among you who daily are dealing with life threatening illness--either physical or emotional.

On now to ends and odds:

--Bathroom renovations are not fun.  No matter how clean the workers are, dust seeps out everywhere. Then nothing is done on time and none of the materials required are available when you need them.  And then the crazy fucking neighbors complain to the Condo Association when they could just come over and tell me what their concern is.  But it will be a bathroom fit for a king and queen which fairly describes the two of us.

--And in a matter of weeks, we will be a one car household.  The little bitty Saturn (commonly referred to as the death trap), first used by Anna at Oberlin, will be taken off the road.  Hopefully, this will work since it is obviously better for the environment and our checkbook.  More on this later, I am sure.

--OK, the entire Middle East is a crazed fucking mess.  Egypt where executions of hundreds seem to be a daily occurrence sanctioned by the courts.  Libya where tribes seems to be carving out pieces of territory for their own and a peace activist gets assassinated.  Jordan which is inundated by refugees and starting to become unstable.  And what can you say about Iraq and Syria?  And we are with the Iranians and the Russians in support of Maliki--whats up with that?  And the Israelis and Palestinians go about killing and kidnapping and not living together in the sandbox. McCain would have us in every one of those countries having not learned a thing.

--Paul Waldman (who I never heard of) on the CNN website and my man Jon Stewart skewered Dick Cheyney for publicly accusing Obama of losing Iraq.  The man and his nasty daughter are both certifiable.

--Almost half of the Cuban Americans surveyed in Miami want the embargo to end.  And Obama says what exactly. Speaking of which, I finally saw the documentary on Luis Tiant's return to Cuba after 46 years in exile. What struck me was that his visit occurred in 2007.  We went about 5 years later and what I saw in the film looked the same as what I saw in person.  Oh so sad--especially for someone like him returning home. Reminded me of my visit to the places I lived when I was in Miami this past May.

SPORTS TALK

So happy the Heat lost though I think all this opting out business is some sly Pat Riley plan.  

Yeah, the U.S. got through to the round of 16 and I actually think they have a chance against Belgium.  But they better figure out a way to be more offensive minded otherwise they depend too much on the goal keep and the defenders. I will say none of these teams look overwhelming--even the Germans.  

And it is close enough to July 4th to make my first baseball pronouncement.  My Yanks are very mediocre but are hanging around and doing it without CC and without Pineda. The Red Flops will come back while both the Jays and O's will hang around also.  I don' think the wild card will come from this group.

And Chiarelli not moving Chris Kelly and a defenseman in order to keep Iginla.  Let me just say they need Iginla because no one on that team scores consistently--Seguin did but Kelly fits better.  Right?

Sayonara

BONJOUR, MES AMIS

And that my friends is my bilingual capacity in French-oui. Had a great anniversary trip to Paris despite ugly weather most of the time and crowds which overwhelmed us a couple of times.  Went on multiple forced marches through the city courtesy of the Drill Sergeant and also took the Metro all over.  Saw Mona but had to fight our way in and, surprise, she is quite small--loads of folks taking selfies with her in the background and them in the foreground.  Otherwise we also saw the Venus Di Milo and fled.   Ditto the Eiffel Tower which is really an erector set but it too caused us to flee.  My favorite museum was the Rodin--the guy was just so prolific and in multiple media (ah, there goes Mrs. Reynolds smiling at me again from Latin heaven).

Re-read my last post and it even made me a bit squirmy--so my apologies.  However, in the end, it was a powerful positive experience even if I ended up confronting some ugly history.

Now, it so happens my main man Eric Cantor (he who is a member of my tribe) has been kicked to the curb--and deservedly so though it is a bit crazed to get too excited since someone to his right beat him.  I am also not one who thinks this is a BIG MEANINGFUL message about the 2014 or 2016 elections--though I could be wrong about 2014. Actually could be wrong about it all.  I cannot believe people of color, women, or any moderate to liberal leaning person will in the end want to return to the dark ages.  The deniers of climate change, the hateful folks opposed to gay marriage and abortion rights, the ones still crying over obamacare--I cannot believe they will prevail. Some of the states with strong Tea Party factions are write offs for the Dems anyhow--so screw 'em.  Call me naive but I cannot believe Jeanne Shaheen will lose to Scotty up there in NH.  You know what they say about paranoid people--just because you are paranoid does not mean they are NOT out to get you.  My paranoid thought of the week--was there a taint of Anti-Semitism in Eric's loss?  Just saying.

Ends and Odds:
--You can now carry a visible weapon in the great state of Texas--including bringing your rifle into Burger King.  They also passed a law in support of reparative therapy for gay people.  And Ric Perry is not even running.
--On the same day, the Globe had the following stories--one about Bears, one about Bobcats, and one about Bobtail rabbits.  Oh my.  I do, however, like their new weekly political section.
--Iraq, Nigeria, Syria, and Libya.  All combusting and McCain wants us in all of them along with John Boehner (he who has a perpetual tan).  They learn nothing. They are just all in on hating Obama.  One result of all this is that the Kurds could easily end up with their own country since they seem like they actually know what they are doing and are prime buffer territory.
--That rabbi in Sharon, Ma. is an embarrassment and worse--reminds us all that men in positions of religious authority can be very dangerous.
--John Oliver absolutely eviscerated FIFA on 6/8.
--Am I wrong or is there now at least one shooting in a school every week?  And the NRA continues to tell us that if we had more guns we would have less shootings--hello!!


SPORTS TALK
--You heard it here first and more than once.  In the wake of the Bruins elimination, folks on talk radio are clamoring for someone who can score and maybe not play so much defense.  Sounds like Sequin to me--especially when you get shit from Louie.
--Danny Ainge will do something--he is not going to sit on all those draft picks.  I prefer Love over Melo.  With Melo, you would get the second head case (rondo being prima donna numero uno).
The Spurs are beautiful and despite how good Lebron is, I hate the fucking Heat.
--Rask never elevated his game like Tim Thomas did.

Happy anniversary to S and J.

Sayonara

ABE AND ESTHER--AND WHY APPLES DON'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE

Caveat Emptor--this one is quite personal and if that makes you squirmy, you will find a few odd tidbits way down at the bottom.  Otherwise, we go on.  I have returned from my reunion and have the following thoughts.

Abe and Esther saved my life--it is as simple and as complicated as that.    And I don't care if that sounds melodramatic--it is true as far as my memory can recall. Married not to each other but to other partners and with other children in their homes, they were the parents of two of my peers. They were fixtures throughout my childhood and adolescence.  Abe was a surrogate father--taking me and his son to baseball games, giving me rides to places, helping my mother out, and, in general, filling a major paternal void.  Esther, my first grade teacher (and later the principal of my elementary school and the first Jewish principal in Dade County), was enormously supportive especially to my mother as she (my mother) struggled with being a single parent with a full time job. Esther was the the voice of professional reason/advice when my mother did not know how to parent a boy.  Together, they attempted to compensate for how different my life was from the lives of those around me.

Their children were at the reunion.  I have know them both for 60 plus years though I have been in close contact with Abe's son for most of that time.  I re-united with Esther's daughter at the reunion.  The comfort of a shared history is not to be under estimated.  Like their parents before them, these two peers symbolically and literally took my hand and emotionally helped me get through the weekend.  Having them at my side at the evening events made the events both tolerable and less anxiety provoking.  There were easier conversations and even when a third party would barge in (who I either did not know or did not remember), I was included.  On Saturday, Esther's daughter and I took a long tour of Miami and visited sights along our respective memory lanes.  Each of us struggled as we saw things that brought up both the good and bad of our childhood and young adulthood.  It was very difficult for us both but so important--and I never would have done it without her.  Even had lunch at a restaurant in a building that used to be Wolfie's which is of course gone. I will say this for Miamah--it makes Boston look like palookaville.  Not that I would move there but oh my is it big, tall, glitzy, and a true bi-cultural place.

Now to the most difficult part for me--brief though it is.  I am frequently criticized by certain people for using my history as an excuse for current behavior.  I get it.  But this visit confirmed for me that the power of that history has really integrated itself in my life, in what I chose to be employed at, at how I function as a parent, at how I function as a partner, and is just here everyday.  Factoids:  I am the only one I knew who had no car; the only one I knew whose parents were divorced; the only one I knew whose mother worked; and the only one I knew who lived in an apartment.  As I visited the places I used to live I was struck by their smallness and now their squalor.  For god's sake, my mother slept on a couch in the "florida" room.

I want to thank Abe and Esther for helping me get through a very rough time and thank their children for getting me through this reunion.  Them's the trees and the apples.

A FEW ITEMS OF NOTE
--This guy Crosby has totally fucked up our casino process.  I am now convinced I will be driving to Springfield if I want to gamble.
--A female Texas judge sentenced a rapist to 45 days in jail.
--Our Child Welfare agency has a new Commissioner.  A person with a background in transporataion--go figure.
--Colbert (on SI.Com) had a terrific piece on Michael Sam kissing his partner after getting drafted.
--What to do about those Nigerian girls--how do I wrap my mind around it?  I am thinking I never want to visit Africa.
--A shout out to Tess and Jake.  Bon voyage and Shalom.  Have a great trip and be nice to each other.

SPORTS TALK
--
All I have to say is Seguin and Kessel--they actually put pucks in the net.

See you in a month.
Sayonara

"BUT IS HE REALLY AN AMERICAN"

The weather on Marathon Day was gorgeous--warm and sunny as if the powers that be were paying us back for last year's awful bombing.  I watched the ending and admit to taking some serious pride as an American won the race and held off those terrific African runners from both Ethiopia and Kenya.  Then I settled in to do my exercise which is way less than "marathonic" in length.  I surf the tube when I do this and usually end up watching a game or horse racing.  Less frequently I end up watching and listening to talking heads as they discuss sports.  So on Marathon Day, I caught a piece of one of these talking heads wondering out loud if Meb was a real American.  This guy has a name ending in a vowel--I would bet either his parents or his grandparents came from the old country and were not invited to be on the Mayflower. It was totally pathetic, embarrassing, and repugnant.  These idiots are bad enough when they stir up the sports pot--but for them to discuss issues of citizenship is really beyond the pale. Meb's father walked from the Sudan to Ethiopia (or Eritrea, I forget and it does not matter since it was 600 miles in any case), got to Italy, and then to America as a legal entrant to this fine country--and we are being asked if this man's child is really an American.

Now bear with me as I move on to a lengthy list of ends and odds.
--Let's start with anti-semitism which seems like a smooth if not sensitive transition.  The shooter in Overland, Kansas tried to kill Jews but missed and killed other innocent people; but he picked Jewish venues and his history clearly shows us all what he stands for.  Then, locally, we have all sorts of anti semitic graffiti appearing in the schools of Burlington, Ma.  In both elementary and secondary schools.  Leaders are doing all the right things--but really more of this shit?  Finally, in a place that I am not surprised to find it, leaflets in Ukraine urge Jews to register themselves with their city/town--just like you know who as a prelude to the death camps. And no I do not consider myself paranoid.  Just fucking angry.
--But then my tribe has to absorb the message of one of our members named  Donald Sterling, the NBA owner, who is flat out a racist pig.
--Speaking of smooth transitions, it is quite eerie watching the TV show "The Americans" and watching the news involving the Ukraine.  Putin really is taking us back except there are nukes all over the fucking place and a lunatic like Putin has some of them--as do the Europeans and us upstanding Americans..  And no I do not consider this paranoia either.
--I think our new Mayor is doing a fine job but he is mucking around in the casino business and insuring that we may never see a casino in the eastern part of the state.  Meanwhile, he is silent on the new $30 lottery ticket which apparently is different than gambling.
--And yet another terrific transition this time to politics.  I guess we just kicked Scotty to the curb in the Granite state--not to the curb permanently.  He is now a New Hampshire home boy running against Jeanne Shaheen--who had the audacity to support Obamacare.  He has picked another woman to do battle with who is smarter than he is.  I just hope Jeanne puts her brass knuckles on and kicks the shit out of him.
--Our child welfare agency is truly on the ropes with yet more children dying.  Their oversight of cases seems totally inconsistent and they actually have the gall to say that if they respond to an "emergency" within 24 hours, they have met a standard of care.  Ask a fireman/woman what would happen to a house fire if that were their definition  of an emergency response.  Why would anyone want that job and if someone does want it, they better be taking a lot of meds.
--Have no words to offer in terms of that South Korean ferry sinking. Too many people keep dying all over the place.  Some words from Iris Dement:  "I'm older now and have no time to cry".
--Georgia (the state not the country) has legalized possession of guns in churches. But what about synagogues--after all fair is fair.
--I will not stop for jaywalkers carrying yoga pads.  Seems a bit incongruent, no?
--The big silver bird is warming up to take me South to my 50th HS reunion--I remain petrified.  Will I need a translator for conversations with some of the good old boys and girls who have never left the South?

SPORTS TALK
--I think the folks who go to the Master's and/or the Kentucky Derby just have a bucket list of places they want to go to and  want to get drunk in the sun. Why are they mostly white?  Sometimes it seems like they are watching NASCAR.
--The good news is that NBC is sending Tara and Johnny from their Olympic coverage team to Louisville to cover the Derby.  They are way cool.
--The Red Wings had me worried but the Bruins inhaled them after Game 1.

Sayonara

YOU PIERCED WHAT?

So, one of those big silver birds delivered us to Turks and Caicos for a week of fun and sun.  I was neither the oldest nor the chubbiest guy on the beach--though it was close on the chubby spectrum.  One of the least comfortable questions consistently asked of me is:  "if you are retired, what do you need a vacation for".  It really leaves me itchy and scratchy and feeling as if I have to explain something which is kind of indefensible. But the truth is that it is different when you are out of your house, sitting on your ass, having a cocktail at 11 in the morning, and not having one fucking errand to run.  So tough; but still uncomfy.  Oh, about the piercings:  one woman had an eyelid pierced and another had the space between her breasts pierced.  No offense, but the first one was especially gross.  We had a great time.  Moving on.

The Globe had a terrific and lengthy story about the Richards family early this week--not so coincidentally, the paper got a Pulitzer for its 2013 Marathon coverage. The Richards were at that Marathon and one of their sons died; their daughter lost a leg; the mother lost an eye; the father lost hearing in one ear; and while the remaining son was virtually uninjured, god only knows what it has done to his mental health.  The article had us in tears. Yesterday's paper came wrapped with a two page picture of the survivors.  Overwhelming.

But then there is this from the same paper.  Their religion writer (who has yet to write one word about religions other than Catholic) had a lot to say about Lent.  And the Globe also had a "feature" about ravens. I look forward to the return of the great white sharks and their front page pictures.

Those of you who read every word of this screed know my driveway empties onto a one way street.  I have gotten very good about anticipating bike riders coming right at me as they ride the wrong way (being that I am a great and flexible human being).  So imagine my surprise to see a SUV coming right at me just like the bike riders--and not even pretending to be on the right side of the road but coming right down the middle.  I pull over and slow down.  As he passes me I give him THE EVIL EYE.  He flips the me his middle finger and motors on.  I remain beyond speechless in the "what the fuck" category.

Other items:
--The mess in the Ukraine is getting messier and messier and I have no clue.
--In Errol Morris' recent film which I have not seen, both Rumsfeld and Cheyney appear and continue to deny any culpability about their lies.  We are very lucky both are gone especially Cheyney who is very scary.
--Republicans, bless their heart, are still fighting the Affordable Care Act.  They also blocked the equal pay bill and the extension of unemployment benefits.  I hope this continues right up to the fall elections.
--Saw two members of the Pussy Riot group on TV.  We just don't know what political bravery is in this country and it is not Rush Limbaugh.  These women are heroines.  Plus parents!!
--Oklahoma passed a state law denying municipalities the right to raise the minimum wage--really who would want to live there.
--Is there any reason adults continue to be called either Butchy or Junior?
--10 days until my reunion--I am loading up on my meds as we speak.  What if one of these unrepentant Southerners wants to discuss Marc Rubio?
--Be strong, Norma.

SPORTS TALK
--Glad the Bruins finished first overall but the Red Wings have me worried.  I was thinking anyone but them.  Any day Jerry York and his hockey team loses is a good day for Boston and America--bye bye you Eagles.  However, the "double" performed by UConn was very special and to think they have done it twice recently.  I don't suppose anyone wants me to summarize the stats of Seguin, Kessel, and Thornton--huh?

Sayonara.