Sunday, January 20, 2013
It takes a special person...
In the spirit of the Inaugaration ceremony and regardless of your politics, it takes a special person to be President of the United States!
Take me out to the ball game..Stan Musial, Earl Weaver
The passing of Stan Musial and Earl Weaver reminds us of a time of no ESPN1, 2 or 3, no news scrolls at the bottom of the TV screen, no twitter or facebook, no night baseball at Wrigley, no steroids, no wildcard playoffs....and days of doubleheaders, Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek's NBC's Saturday Game of the Week, Howard Cosell's ABC Monday Night Baseball, TOPPS baseball cards, real grass playing fields, the feel of a new Rawlings glove, Curt Gowdy, the smell of an old ballpark, playing catch, tee-ball, Colt and Pony League, Ray Fosse and the 70's Oakland Athletics, Johnny Bench and the Big Red Machine, Ernie Banks and let's play two, the Cubbies and Jack Brickhouse, Jack Buck and Mike Shannon, AM radio....and dreams. Oh, how great it was!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Forgive me Father(U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) for I have sinned...
What if.
Here we are again, listening to a celebrity apologize for their indiscretions. Lance Armstrong is no different from those in the past where they find that denial or cover up is the easiest way to overcome or hide their lies.
Richard Nixon - what if he wouldn't have slushed funds to John Dean to cover up Watergate. How would've this country been changed?
It's not the crime or indiscretion that gets you so to speak, its the cover up. We've yet to learn the lessons from Watergate.
What if Pete Rose would've admitting gambling straightaway?
What if Bill Clinton would've saved the country from his embarrassment?
Well, "If, If's and And's were Pots and Pans, the world would be a kitchen!"
Sports, Politics, Movie/TV stars, celebrities and the like. While adultery and affairs are no one's business, when you become part of the celebrity spin that we so love to twirl, it becomes everyones business. It comes with the territory. Sure there's a degree of privacy at stake here, but when a celebrity feeds off the adulation's of others, that privacy gets chipped away. It's been often said, would love the money, just wouldn't want the fame.
What if Lance, when given the opportunity to speak the truth and he's had plenty of chances, would've done just that, spoke the truth? He duped us all. One could argue he's no different than Bernie Madoff. They both conned us. One monetarily, the other through inspiration.
I've not read Lance's book, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. This past month I found myself selling it on the cheap at a used book store. Fittingly - - cheap. We can expect Lance to write another book, I wonder what the title will be? "It's Not About the Truth" ? That book would be far more interesting than a book of lies.
One could argue that his foundation has done alot of good and I don't disagree. Battling back from cancer is truly inspirational, but that inspiration now has been tainted.
Truly, yes, connecting that word with Lance Armstrong is difficult, however, he truly has no one to answer to but the God he worships and just importantly, the person he sees in the mirror each day.
Who's to blame here? Lance and his controlling cover up of the truth? Or society? Society where we so pedestal our athletes, politicians, actors and actresses? Should we really be surprised at all the questionable activities of these people after we, ourselves, have lifted them up? There are human. And human kind has been lying since the apple was plucked from the tree.
What happened to focusing on those that truly, (there's that word again) affect our lives - - parents, grandparents, children, teachers, friends, neighbors, ministers and priests. Those people that have a direct impact on our lives.
Who's at fault? Us for thinking that celebrities are free of fault and failure? Perhaps, but one thing is certain - - - -
Denial just ain't a river in Egypt and Lance canoed that river for a decade!
Here we are again, listening to a celebrity apologize for their indiscretions. Lance Armstrong is no different from those in the past where they find that denial or cover up is the easiest way to overcome or hide their lies.
Richard Nixon - what if he wouldn't have slushed funds to John Dean to cover up Watergate. How would've this country been changed?
It's not the crime or indiscretion that gets you so to speak, its the cover up. We've yet to learn the lessons from Watergate.
What if Pete Rose would've admitting gambling straightaway?
What if Bill Clinton would've saved the country from his embarrassment?
Well, "If, If's and And's were Pots and Pans, the world would be a kitchen!"
Sports, Politics, Movie/TV stars, celebrities and the like. While adultery and affairs are no one's business, when you become part of the celebrity spin that we so love to twirl, it becomes everyones business. It comes with the territory. Sure there's a degree of privacy at stake here, but when a celebrity feeds off the adulation's of others, that privacy gets chipped away. It's been often said, would love the money, just wouldn't want the fame.
What if Lance, when given the opportunity to speak the truth and he's had plenty of chances, would've done just that, spoke the truth? He duped us all. One could argue he's no different than Bernie Madoff. They both conned us. One monetarily, the other through inspiration.
I've not read Lance's book, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life. This past month I found myself selling it on the cheap at a used book store. Fittingly - - cheap. We can expect Lance to write another book, I wonder what the title will be? "It's Not About the Truth" ? That book would be far more interesting than a book of lies.
One could argue that his foundation has done alot of good and I don't disagree. Battling back from cancer is truly inspirational, but that inspiration now has been tainted.
Truly, yes, connecting that word with Lance Armstrong is difficult, however, he truly has no one to answer to but the God he worships and just importantly, the person he sees in the mirror each day.
Who's to blame here? Lance and his controlling cover up of the truth? Or society? Society where we so pedestal our athletes, politicians, actors and actresses? Should we really be surprised at all the questionable activities of these people after we, ourselves, have lifted them up? There are human. And human kind has been lying since the apple was plucked from the tree.
What happened to focusing on those that truly, (there's that word again) affect our lives - - parents, grandparents, children, teachers, friends, neighbors, ministers and priests. Those people that have a direct impact on our lives.
Who's at fault? Us for thinking that celebrities are free of fault and failure? Perhaps, but one thing is certain - - - -
Denial just ain't a river in Egypt and Lance canoed that river for a decade!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Long May You Run...in 2013
I'm not a runner. Flat out, I rarely do it. That's not to say I don't run to the supermarket, bookstore, bathroom or refrigerator. Not necessarily in that order.
Trains and cars and several guitars. All run. Trains run on coal, electricity or steam, cars run on gasoline or in this case ethanol and guitars run on the strum or pluck of ones fingers.
Neil Young's memoir, Waging Heavy Peace, speaks to all three.
Young is philosophical on his idealistic view of life, always tinkering with new things. A revealing look at his life intertwined with his inspired invention to that helped save the Lionel train company, his ethanol powered car which is taken years to create ( it being destroyed by fire doesn't help) and the many guitars that he used to create classics such as "Old Man", " Heart of Gold" and "Harvest Moon".
Then there's Young's approach to the purity of music and his desire to un-digitize the music that's created today. Not to revert back to vinyl, reel to reel, cassette or 8 track, but to recapture the sound of how music was once made - analogically.
Long may you run. The title of a song made famous by Neil Young. We all have our challenges in life, Mr. Young is no exception. But instead of giving up or giving in, he decided to give. Give of himself to make a better life for his disabled child. Mr. Young is not only a gifted musician but a very inventive human being.
As we start a new year with feelings of hope, we'll also face our own set of challenges along the way. Neil Young's life is not only interesting, inventive and spiritual, it's inspiring as well.
So, Long May You Run during 2013 and may your new year be fruitful and full of joy and peace.
Trains and cars and several guitars. All run. Trains run on coal, electricity or steam, cars run on gasoline or in this case ethanol and guitars run on the strum or pluck of ones fingers.
Neil Young's memoir, Waging Heavy Peace, speaks to all three.
Young is philosophical on his idealistic view of life, always tinkering with new things. A revealing look at his life intertwined with his inspired invention to that helped save the Lionel train company, his ethanol powered car which is taken years to create ( it being destroyed by fire doesn't help) and the many guitars that he used to create classics such as "Old Man", " Heart of Gold" and "Harvest Moon".
Then there's Young's approach to the purity of music and his desire to un-digitize the music that's created today. Not to revert back to vinyl, reel to reel, cassette or 8 track, but to recapture the sound of how music was once made - analogically.
Long may you run. The title of a song made famous by Neil Young. We all have our challenges in life, Mr. Young is no exception. But instead of giving up or giving in, he decided to give. Give of himself to make a better life for his disabled child. Mr. Young is not only a gifted musician but a very inventive human being.
As we start a new year with feelings of hope, we'll also face our own set of challenges along the way. Neil Young's life is not only interesting, inventive and spiritual, it's inspiring as well.
So, Long May You Run during 2013 and may your new year be fruitful and full of joy and peace.
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