Author: fifteenkey (Page 43 of 95)

The Yankees.
The Habs.
The (I guess) J-E-T-S.

They’re the teams we Bostonians love to hate, and last night the locals put a spanking on the fourth of a kind, the Los Angeles Lakers. Yeah, Jacks team. I hope Jack can handle the truth (the Lakers couldn’t), because his 2007-2008 edition is painted perfectly this morning by Salon.com’s King Kaufman:

“The Lakers looked like a glass-jawed opponent brought in to fight the champ in a tune-up bout. Ever seen that? The guy looks nice and professional for a little while, right up until the first solid blow lands. Then he gets taken apart.”

…that I can remember…

1. 2004 Red Sox – Duh
2. 2007 Pat… – Oh, they lost one, didn’t they?
3. 1969-70 Bruins – The Big Bad Bruins were IT in the early 70’s. Bobby Orr flies in OT…
4. 2007 Red Sox – Not nearly as much fun without the Yanks in our wake.
5. 1983-4 Celtics – Larry v. Magic in 7 beauts.
6. 2007-8 Celtics – “D” wins championships and so sweet after 22 years. Paul Pierce is the man.
7. 1968-9 Celtics – Game 7 at LA… I think the purple and gold balloons are still in the Forum rafters.
8. 2001 Patriots – Exciting win, but in hindsight a little less lofty.

There were many others; most of them in green, but we are so fortunate here…

I love the pompous, hot-air driven “Predictions” on the McLaughlin Report. Here are a few:

• I’m going to say it again, John McCain won’t be the Republican nominee in November.
• The Boston Celtics win #17 tonight.
• The Mets’ Willie Randolph will be fir… Uh, nevermind.

When you’re this late, don’t bother coming at all: Al Gore endorsed Barack Obama… last night.

…but that routine will be interrupted Wednesday night when Sloan brings their sonic circus to town. I’ll have Megan in tow for her second Sloan show along with her friend to be named later. Of course we’ll meet up with Jeff who’s pretty fired up himself.

I’m a bad Celtics fan, having jumped on the bandwagon sometime during the Cleveland series, but the heart displayed by this Celtics team is impressive. Former Celtic great and sometime color man Bob Cousy often says during games, “the C’s have got to increase their defensive intensity.” Defense is all about heart and the display of it by this team and its leader, Paul Pierce, is admirable. If the Lakers have any hope to get back in this Series starting tonight, it’ll be on the defensive end of the floor where they’ll do it. Personally, I don’t think they have the heart.

In today’s Salon, “Marc Lynott,” the pseudonym of a New York writer enters text titled, “My two dads,” a story of conflict between genetic and practical paternity on Father’s Day. It opens, “Every Father’s Day, I’m torn between the man who brought me into this world and the man who truly raised me.” I never had such a conflict. In the 38 years since my parents divorce, I recall my mom having a couple dates, and the concept of a step-father had never entered my mind until constructing this thought.

Dad and I spoke this morning and I look forward to his visit late this month. We have a good relationship and I’m glad for it. It wasn’t always that way and I created much of the canyon that separated us.

In 1996, Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote, “It Takes a Village,” illustrating the impact of non-parents on a child’s well being. Growing up in my village of Wakefield, there were a few father figures that made a huge difference in my life…

• Tony G. – My best friend’s dad completely took me under his wing and made me feel like a real member of his five son house. The influence of Mrs. G was just as strong, and man, what a cook, but hey, it’s Father’s Day…
• Zack B. – Father of another high-school friend, this guy was like a dad to hundreds of Wakefield kids who participated in his Youth Basketball program.
• Les D. – My childhood dream was to become a baseball player and from Little League to his Wakefield Merchants team, this man encouraged me to believe in it.
• Fran R. – My high-school sweetheart’s dad. Verbosity wasn’t his thing, but his ever presence in that home was an enduring example of what a father should be.

The collective impact of these fathers in my life is immeasurable. I have no way of knowing what path I would have followed out of the village without their guidance, but it probably would have been rockier than the one I walked, and ultimately, I think my children have benefited from their example.

Dad, guys… Thank you and Happy Father’s Day.

Yesterday was a strange day. I was working on a post that began, “I’m no Freddy Krueger, but I still like the 13th falling on a Friday.” Also in production was a post on criticism of my favorite political pundit, Keith Olberman, who’s been placed atop a low flame Bunsen Burner for blatant pro-Obama partisanship and general self-righteousness. Um, wait… Uh, nevermind. I’m not that, right? One commenter nailed him to the hypocritical cross writing, “Olbermann is nothing more but the left liberal version of Bill O’Reilly.” As ET might say, “Ouch.”

My advanced hunt and peck was interrupted by some early morning real work, a dentist visit, more work, and then a summer outing of the Marketing department. As I walked into the house after my drilling, I looked around at the greens, blues, and pink of blooming roses and conciously thought, “Everything is so beautiful.” It was almost as good as the surreal view of the world you have when in love. It was that gorgeous of a New England Spring day. The outing festivities at Kimball Farm were fun and relaxing, and I enjoyed the opportunity to chat with people I seldom see from behind my closed door. I skipped their ice cream, but did query a group why the ice cream beer float never caught on…

Once I picked up the boy Kyle and got home, I learned Tim Russert of NBC had died. On MSNBC, Mr. Olberman led an incredible media outpouring appropriate perhaps for Mother Theresa, but a bit excessive for a TV talking head. All the cable networks including CNN and even Faux News jumped on the eulogy marathon that’s still going…

I didn’t really care for Mr. Russert’s prosecutorial “gotcha” style, and called it out after watching his unjust joust with Hillary Clinton in January. Sure, that’s just one critical example from a generally distinguished career, but the full-court press reaction to Mr. Russert’s passing is more about their self-importance than about Tim Russert. Last night I heard how tragic it was that Tim Russert would miss the rest of this year’s historic presidential election and “how will we possibly cover it without Tim?” To those observations I thought it’s surely less tragic than for those African-Americans who died yesterday before they could vote for a black American president, and yeah, the election will get covered without Tim.

I guess my point in all this is that their “self-importance” has been earned, and the media more than ever delivers “news” only slanted with opinion and they have more power than ever to do it. There’s an electoral cliché that originated with Maine, moved to Missouri, and in recent years probably resided in Florida. It’s about the importance of carrying those states in order to win in November. In 2008, it’s shifted again, this time with the power residing in our media outlets. With Fox the propaganda machine of the Right and MSNBC their nemesis on the Left, as CNN goes, so goes the nation.

Asked whether he’d be interested in Cheney to serve in the his unlikely administration, John McSame said: “Hell, yeah.” He didn’t say whether he’d be interested in hunting with Dick.

Losering

…for her “concession speech.” Is anyone surprised? Now NBC’s Ron Allen explains, “She’s always running late.” Ron Allen is one of a few people of color (how come that’s PC, but “colored people” isn’t?) suddenly brightening TV news. Some of my favorites are Allen, John Ridley from NBC, and the opposites, Amy Holmes and Donna Brazile of CNN. I did search for a FauxNews representative, and Juan Williams was the lone beacon in their sea of white lies.

I wonder if the election of Barack Obama will open more doors for non-Caucasians.? Speaking of colored people, John McCain is so white, he’s gray. I mean, he is a man completely devoid of hue. He’s also absent alignment with the majority of Americans, but I digress…

Today’s speech, and more pointedly, the “walk” of the talk between now and November will determine the legacy of Hillary Clinton. My hope for her, my daughters and my grand-daughters is that it’s a brilliant one.

Yesterday my #1 fan commented, “Does it ever make you mad that no one comments?” Well, that’s really not true, is it my girl? Oh, you mean “other people…” No, not really. People lead busy lives and I’m grateful that 15-20 people a day read this often digital drool.

Hey, speaking of drool, Jeff and I were IM’ing the other day and briefly exchanged views on the imperviousness of babies to drool. It’s everywhere and they just don’t care. Happy birthday to Nathan and Zachery Copetas who hit the big one this week.

• “Don’t Quit Your Day Job” Records is a great name for a label.

Top 3 Sunburns…

• Memorial Day 1976 at Hampton Beach, NH – From cracker to lobster kicking off the bi-centennial summer.
• Gila River (AZ) Raft Trip 1981 – Laying in an inflated tire for 5 hours drinking beer sounded like a good idea.
• July 4, 1982 – Mission Beach, San Diego – When you choose the back of a station wagon alone vs. a sleeping bag on the beach with your girlfriend, it’s not a tan.

‘If Jesus was around today the Republicans would call him soft on terror and part of the “cut and run” crowd.’ – DJ Hugely on “Real Time with Bill Maher.

Focus
Reading an article about focus while climbing stairs, listening to music and occasionally glancing at the TV may seem fuzzy, but it all works together like rats rummaging tin garbage cans in the alley of a French Bistro. One line from a commenter stood out: “The more attention you put on something the bigger it becomes.” Yeah, like an ex-girlfriend.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Imagine, you meet a smart, sexy woman and she’s got a great career, moonlights as a superhero, plus she breaks your bed with you in it. Cool, right? Well, super skills aside, she turns out to be a needy, neurotic mess who puts this song into the soundtrack while she burns “Dick” into your forehead with x-ray eyes… Cute premise for a movie and the few bits I caught while the Mars lander allowed the dust to clear were chuckle inducing. .

Mission to Mars
I’ve been fascinated by the space program since watching Gemini and Apollo missions in the 60’s and 70’s, but in 2008, I think $520M could buy a lot of progress toward energy independence instead of ice on Mars. Still, it’s a great achievement for the Phoenix mission team at the University of Arizona.

The liberal press and nuts like me make ourselves feel better about the mess we’re in by proclaiming Dubya will burrow under the lair of losers to his rightful spot at the bottom of the worst Presidents ever. But is he really? Yesterday oil fetched $139 a barrel; we all know where gas prices are going, and Mr. Bush’s oil friends are realizing historic profits. From the secret “energy policy” meetings held by the ever-appropriately named Dick Cheney, to a long destabilizing war, this seven year reign of error has made it happen. As Robin Hood was a hero to the poor, George W. Bush is a serviceable lackey to the rich.

I can’t end there… 40 years ago this week as this then nine year old got ready for school, the man on the radio told me Robert F. Kennedy had been killed. What I haven’t known for forty years was that as he lay dying, he was conscious and asked, “Is everybody all right?” Those were his last words.

Scanning those quad decade events, I read about a rumor that the Stones were recording “Beggar’s Banquet” at the time and that a lyric in “Sympathy for the Devil” was changed from “I shouted out, who killed John Kennedy?” to “I shouted out, who killed the Kennedy’s?”

As our economy unravels and all but the rich are at risk of unemployment, inflation and a devaluing of our currency as a nation, my hope is that our next President shares the sentiment, “Is everybody all right?”