Crossing the finish line

As one gets up in years one has a tendency to check the obituaries each morning. Last week the N.Y. Times had two racing greats side by side. On the right they noted on the passing of Carl Hanford a trainer of the great horse Kelso. Entering the Racing Hall of Fame he said "I'm here because of one horse and one horse only." Kelso was a gelding and because of his inability to breed he ran into his ninth year and was probably the greatest horse of the 1960s decade having won the Jockey Gold Cup five times and a three time winner of both the Woodward Stakes and the Whitney Handicap. Back then many of the stakes races were "weight for age" and as Kelso was running against younger horses the stewards would often assign him heavier weights. The three year old horses running in the Triple Crown races in May/June were all assigned 126 pounds. What was impressive about Kelso he could win carrying 136 pounds which included the jockey Eddie Arcaro plus some metal in his saddle bags. He retired at age nine when his owner, Allaire duPont, would ride him on fox hunts. At age 26 he made a ceremonial visit to Belmont Park and died shortly thereafter. On the other side of the page was the obit of John J.Kelley a marathoner winner of the 1957 Boston Marathon. So here we had two great runners crossing the finish line together.
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Next - FEMA

Philly Favorites

These are a few of my favorite things...Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Pepper Pot, Scrapple (don't ask the ingredients - just as you wouldn't watch sausage made), Tastykakes and the Cheese Steak.  The founder of Geno's Steaks passed away last week. In 2005 he posted a sign "This is America. When ordering please speak English." He reminded critics that he did say "please" - and nobody gets refused. In 2003 he received a favorable review in the N.Y. Times by the eminent gourmet, R.W. Apple, Jr. who described the cheese dissolving into a runny sauce. And this was Cheez Whiz from an aerosol can! In 1967 when he opened he charged thirty-five cents - currently it cost $9.00 - with or without the onions.
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Next - Crossing the finish line

Hurricane Alley

Today I would like to offer thanks that my family, friends and loved ones survived the most serious hurricane to come thru the East Coast in many years. Some minor damage plus some inconvenience  is better than what it might have been. Having lived in Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey I am familiar with the geography involved. There will be flooding and considerable clean up effort. Let's pray for all those folks who were not as fortunate. North Carolina took the brunt of the storm which may have lessened the effect on New York. I support both Bloomberg and Gov. Christie  on the tough calls they had to make.
tjs
Next - Philly Favorites

Where's Waldo?

NEWS BREAK.......

They can't seem to locate the Libyan dictator - the newspapers spell his name with a "Q" - a TV station spelled it with a "K" - GOOGLE spells it with a "G" - if they can't spell his name correctly it's no wonder they can't find him. And with a $2 million bounty on his head! Spelling was always my strong suit.
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Next - TBA

Job Security

Walter O'Malley was the long time owner of the Brooklyn Dodger (later Los Angeles Dodger) franchise. While he may have given some of his stars long term contracts, his practice with his managers was to offer only a one year contract, subject to yearly review and renewal. Most of the managers had no problem with his idiosyncrasy - Leo Durocher had eight years - Walter Alston stayed on for twenty-three years - and Tommy LaSorda put in eighteen seasons. But the one fellow who had a problem with this year to year routine was Charley (Chuck) Dressen who served from 1951-1953. It seemed that Dressen's wife was unhappy with the uncertainty of it all and provoked her husband to ask for a longer term. This did not sit well with O'Malley and Dressen was gone after three seasons. Of course, it didn't help Dressen since he was at the helm on October 3, 1951 when the Dodgers lost the NL pennant to the rival New York Giants in a playoff that featured Bobby Thomson's famous home run. There is a moral here for all to see.
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Next - Funny or Punny

Believe it or not

The following excerpted from Eagle Blue No. 32 - May 12, 2006 -
-I had a young fellow working with me on the booking desk in Philadelphia - call him Joe B. He had a quick mind and wit and excellent interpersonal skills. A family situation dictated he take a leave of absence to rescue a relative's failing gas station. With his excellent work ethic he soon had the station in the black working twelve hour days. The station was on the edge of the city but his home was in New Jersey which made for a lengthy commute. One of his steadiest customers was a drapery company who gave him all the service and maintenance on their several vans running up a tab of several hundred dollars and then disappearing. Phone calls were futile and he brooded about his loss on the long drive home. One evening on returning home his wife announced that "there was a drapery man here today and he gave me an estimate on new drapes and left his business card." Bingo! It was the "welsher". (Again paraphrasing Bogart's line "of all the homes in Delaware Valley he had to walk into mine." Joe instructed his wife to order the drapes, when they were hung to give the man a check and "call me at work." - after which Joe stopped payment with  his bank and waited for the call which shortly came. "Mr. B. there seems to be a problem with that check your wife gave me." Pause. Joe said "Do you know who I am?" Mr. Drapes answered "Oops, I guess you got me." Joe said "I guess we're even PAL" Justice was served - sometimes it takes a little longer. Also, don't mess with a guy from South Philly!
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Next - Job Security

Vacations

With Washington, D.C. empty, President Obama has gone up to Martha's Vineyard for a brief vacation with his family. Bill Clinton enjoyed his summer breaks also at the Vineyard. It is a lovely area - I once put in there on a schooner and spent several days on the beach. Bush 41 preferred Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush 43 liked to chop wood at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.  Ronald Reagan liked to ride horseback at his ranch in California. Ike was satisfied hanging out in Gettysburg Pa.  Richard Nixon was not a wealthy man and he  sought refuge in Key Biscayne, Fl. at his friend Bebe Rebozo's place.  Nixon used to walk the sand in his street shoes but he did like to deep sea fish. There is a story how these islands around Cape Cod were named. It was said that the King of England had three daughters - Elizabeth, Martha and Ann. He asked them to choose which island they wanted. Elizabeth the oldest chose the Elizabeth Islands - Martha chose the Vineyard. There was only one left and  "Nan took it". As an aside my wife and I honeymooned in Nantucket - they say as the sand washes up on the eastern side that some day you will be able to walk to Europe. Don't hold your breath.
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Next - Believe it or not.

Pucker Up

There is a whistling champion on Wall Street. The N.Y. Times reported August 19th that Christopher W. Ullman of the Carlyle Group is a whistling champion who has appeared on the "Tonight Show" with Jay Leno. He told Leno about his training regimen, which included a no- kissing rule for 24 hours before performing in order to avoid softening the lips. He learned his art by listening to his father whistle Gilbert & Sullivan songs around the house. G&S numbers were fast moving lyrics. In his first contest his rendition of "In the Mood" garnered him second place. In 2001 he was working in Washington for O.M.B. under George W. Bush. One morning he was summoned unexpectedly to the Oval Office to whistle for George W. Bush, who had heard rumors of his talent. Nervously, he performed a set that included Beethoven's Fifth, Take the A Train by Duke Ellington and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". " I was rocking." he said. At Carlyle he performed for visiting executives and once opened for Tony Bennett at a function.  He also does "Happy Birthday" for friends and colleagues, but confessed that sometimes he feels like a trained monkey.
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Next -Vacations

Expressions of Surprise

Our terminal manager of many years had been to sea and worked around dockworkers all his life. Yet the strongest words out of his mouth were "Gee, Willikers!" Of course, my own peripheral brush with longshoremen did not teach me any new words. Many of these expressions can be both regional and generational. The above gent was born in 1904. I had another colleague born circa 1920 - her all-purpose word was "Jeepers!" perhaps after a song of the era "Jeepers Creepers." And with another younger colleague from down east, her phrase was "Get outa town!"  Branch Rickey was the G.M. of the Brooklyn Dodgers circa 1947 and was a God fearing man. His outburst was "Judas Priest!" but he knew much more colorful language as he hurled it at Jackie Robinson to test his composure and ability to withstand what he would hear when he became the first African-American to break into Major League Baseball. The Amos and Andy show was on radio in 1930s where I first heard the Kingfish say "Holy Mackerel, Andy." And then there came the Woodstock generation with their cry of "FAR OUT!" which always confounded me.  I had a few more arrows in my quiver but they wouldn't pass the censor.
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Next - TBA (Mon.)

The Best Man

The Best Man is the one person who must remain sober at any wedding reception. Some of the duties of this position are: safeguard the rings, give a coherent and intelligible toast, dance with the elders, be custodian of all the envelopes, arrange transportation, airline tickets, baggage, hotels etc. When my brother married I was best man. His wedding reception was in a prominent hotel in Philadelphia. To avoid pranks he told his friends they would be spending the night in New Jersey but he booked a room at the reception hotel. During the festivities I checked the bridal suite to make sure it was made up, etc. The bags were there but there was one problem: there were twin beds. I hastily called the hotel manager to remind him that his guests were newlyweds and he moved the bridal party into another room. As I am a type ESFJ I am conscious of detail and I am glad I could catch the hotel gaffe but I never told the groom. Take heed any of you designated to perform this important function.
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Next - Expressions of Surprise

WWII revisited

I am currently slogging thru four-hundred pages of non-fiction about an American track star who competed in the Berlin Olympics in 1936 before enlisting in the Army Air Force where he became a bombardier on a B24 Liberator bomber as we entered WWII. His plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean and he and the pilot were adrift on a raft for forty plus days. The currents took them west where they landed on an island under Japanese control where they were imprisoned and mistreated by sadistic guards. Harking back, I recalled the sinking of the USLines freighter SS AMERICAN LEADER by a German raider in 1942. The Germans took the survivors to Singapore where they turned them over to the Japanese. Their captors separated the crew sending the Captain to Manchuria and the Chief Mate to the Sumatra/Java area where they spent the next three years as prisoners of war. I saw them both in Philadelphia post war - circa 1948 -  the Captain appeared somewhat frail by then but the Chief Mate being somewhat younger was the  Master of a USLines vessel in the Far East trade calling at Japanese ports. With those thoughts in mind we read recently in the N.Y. Times of how we interned Japanese-American citizens on the West Coast during the hysteria post Pearl Harbor. While we did not mistreat them we did upend their lives. I couldn't help noticing the contrast and the reality of wartime.
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Next - The Best Man

Local Politics

The big headline last week was out of Madison, Wisconsin where six State Senators were trying to stave off a recall vote and labor unions were out in force. As the furor died down we now read an Associated Press report of a Delta Airlines flight from Madison to Atlanta where a stowaway bat was found to be flying back and forth in the cabin. Apparently the local politics had driven him batty. The flight immediately returned to Madison so the poor winged creature is destined for fifteen more months of political discourse. And the fifty passengers are being contacted for possible rabies, but we are unaware of their political persuasion. We had thought that most airlines had discontinued any frills with their in-flight service.
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Next - WWII revisited

Cover up

After Watergate we were told that the "cover up" was worse than the crime. In the NY Times datelined Phoenix, Az. August 11th we read that the police department there - as well as other cities - has decreed that all police officers must cover up any tattoos showing on face, neck, arms or hands. It means long sleeves in 100 degree temperature. They want to adopt a more strait-laced professional image on the street. At the Tattoo Expo held in Mesa in May it showed that folks of all ages viewed their bodies as canvases.  The culture has clearly changed. One man said "I can bring my daughter down to Toys R Us and buy a Tattoo Barbie." But the police also caution any aspiring applicants that "tongue rings and various forms of body modification, including the insertion of horns, are also frowned upon." I'd rather not touch that last  line with a ten foot pitch fork.
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Next - Local Politics

Thought for the day

IF CON IS THE OPPOSITE OF PRO - THEN IS CONGRESS THE OPPOSITE OF PROGRESS??

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Next -The Cover Up (Mon.)

Name Dropping

With my surname being almost as popular as "Chang" in the Hong Kong directory, it is no wonder that I sometimes have trouble with hotel clerks and restaurants. Some years ago on a busy social Saturday I had to attend a wedding reception in the afternoon in Philadelphia and a Dinner Dance in the evening in New Jersey. I needed a place to change in between and pulled into a "reputable" motel on US1 and in my naivete I said to the desk clerk "I am in between engagements and I need a room for a couple of hours." He looked at my name and handed me the key to room 108. I hustled down the hall and as I turned the key a female voice from within said "Who is it?" I beat a hasty retreat to the lobby where the occupant of room 108 was on the phone berating the desk clerk.  Years later I began to think that my surname was the key to room 108. After several restaurants gave away my table I began to use aliases. It was a time when the Tavern on the Green in Central Park (NYC) was a very popular spot for Sunday brunch. Anticipating there would be a crowd I reserved using my father-in-law's name. On the day of the event the New Yorkers with their sharp elbows and demanding voices were crowding the lobby and as I inched up to the hostess I had forgotten what name I was using. Luckily, reading her book upside down I spotted a familiar family name and was admitted. Once at a hotel check-in I asked my wife aloud "What name are we using tonight?" She wasn't amused. Lastly, when I lived in Yonkers, N.Y. my address was One David Lane and so David Lane became my nom de plume for a time and it was strange hearing David paged on the P.A. system and hoping other neighbors were not in the crowd.
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Next - Thought for the Day

Scripture

As you golf fans know the most recent Pro Golf Tournament was held at the Firestone Club in Akron, Ohio - the rubber capital of the world. That ubiquitous placard JOHN 3:16 reappeared in the gallery. At first I thought it was the yardage for a par three hole. The holder/holders used to show up at baseball games and always sought out the camera. In those days I used to think it was Tommy John's earned run average. As an aside to that tournament, the caddy recently fired by Tiger Woods was on the bag for the winner earning himself twice the purse that Woods went home with. There must be a moral here for all you unemployed caddies. During the heat of the summer many golf rounds are interrupted by thunder storms accompanied by lightning. Players are urged to leave the course and seek shelter. Lee Trevino, the Mexican-American golfer was once asked what was his routine when lightning appeared. He said, "I grab a "one" iron because not even God can hit a "one". FORE!
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Next - Name Dropping

Frugality

We seniors have learned to navigate restaurant menus to ascertain the conditions for the early bird specials and which entrees are good for the heart. I once had a commuter complain to me about all the seniors on the road around 5PM tying up commuter traffic. I remained silent. A retired couple went into their favorite diner for breakfast and the following exchange ensued between wife (W) and server (S)
W - I'd like the $2.99 special -two eggs -bacon & fries but I don't want the eggs.
S - Then I'll have to charge you ala carte $3.99.
W - O.K. then I'll have the special.
S - How would you like your eggs?
W - Uncooked, uncracked in a bowl - I'll take them home and bake a cake.
Nobody ever said we weren't a frugal lot.
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Next - Scripture

Scare Headlines

There was a startling headline in the NY Times July 31st quoting that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange would no longer be trading Pork Belly Futures. It is a result of  a change in our eating habits as we consume bacon now on a year round basis. "The demise of the futures means something else is really gone now, too - a unique belly culture and its hard-charging daring cast of characters who decades ago, made their fortunes in the high pressure of the belly pit." There was one analyst who died right there. "Bellies killed him" it was said. So, no longer should we fear to see that scare headline "PORK BELLIES ARE DOWN!"
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Next - Frugality

Funny or Punny II

Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

Two termites walk into a bar. One asks, "Is the bar tender here?"

I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.

I couldn't quite remember how to throw a boomerang, but eventually it came back to me.

There was a sign on the lawn at a drug re-hab center that said "Keep off the grass."

A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
tjs
Next - Scare Headlines (Mon.)
PS - Yesterday we had a different kind of scare headline - pardon me while I put a band-aid on my portfolio - or perhaps it needs a tourniquet!

Mangia

When I worked in lower Manhattan circa 1976 there was a restaurant just north of the Battery on the West Side Highway called Ponte's. It was rumored that well connected folks hung out there as well as other waterfront bigwigs.  Google shows them still in business but instead of being under the West Side Highway they are described as being in Tribeca with a river view. Nothing wrong with growing upscale over thirty-five years. New York Magazine calls it "untrendy"... "a hidden gem". Their menu includes an item "Angry Lobster" and I began to wonder what causes a lobster to be upset. First he is uprooted from his native habitat in Maine, thrust into a small water tank, then they stick wooden pegs in their claws and immobilize them with rubber bands and the poor guy knows he is heading for a boiling pot.  I would not only be angry - I would be terrified. So the next time you order Lobster and they place that bib around your neck, think of that poor crustacean and you might become a vegan.
tjs
Next - Funny or Punny II

On the Wing

It was around 8:00AM before the heat of the day when a flock of about ten "honkers" flew over looking for a watery landing place. Their bellowing was unmistakable but their V formation was erratic as perhaps they were seeking leadership the likes of which is lacking in Congress. But their in-flight beauty recalled the Canadian geese we encountered in the Chesapeake Bay area while on a weekend sail out of Annapolis, Md. one October. We were told the winds were best in October which is when Annapolis held their boat show and the old "skipjack" (oysterboat) races. As we made our way over to St. Michaels we saw a large flock of geese just sitting on the water. Without engine we sailed silently into their midst and they took off as one and the sight and sound was breathtaking as they headed to the nearby corn fields. Annapolis is a lively spot in the Fall - the boating crowd hung out at Middleton's Bar - a watering hole with sawdust on the floor. Of course, this was forty years ago so would hope they have changed the sawdust. As an aside, in the modern era, both Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld have summer homes on the eastern shore. If you plan on visiting the area hope that Cheney is not wearing his hunting clothes.
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 Next - Mangia

Wedding Trends

Some time ago I wrote about the wedding party who came up the aisle pulling a little red wagon holding their infant son. More recently I read of a couple wanting to include in the wedding party their chihuahua dressed in a tuxedo. The priest nixed the idea.  We are also dealing with a spate of "destination" weddings where guests are invited to make their way down to the Caribbean or Central America. A few years ago a friend was invited to a wedding in Monaco. The host chartered an aircraft to bring fifty guests for the weekend. Unfortunately, the marriage didn't last - but there were no refunds from the airline. When my parents were married in 1925 their reception was at home so the wedding party walked the five city blocks from the church to the reception.  Some destinations are closer than others.
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Next - On the Wing

A Matter of Style

Some folks recently have criticized our current President for his tendency to compromise and seek consensus and compare him to Ronald Reagan the Great Communicator and Bill Clinton the artful politician. In 1985 in New Jersey my mortgage rate was 14% under Reagan's reign. And Clinton's last two years were a distraction for the country. The fellow who really impressed at the art of persuasion was Lyndon Baines Johnson who after years as Senate majority leader knew the buttons to push and the arms to twist. I recall a telephone tape wherein he was sweet talking his senate mentor Richard Russell of Georgia with personal bantering while he sounded out Russell's position on the Civil Rights Act before he proposed it. And there is a famous photograph of LBJ collaring the elder Senator Theodore Green of R.I. in a hallway with Johnson's index finger buried in Green's chest. There was a story of how LBJ dealt with a recalcitrant congressman who refused to support a pet project: he instructed his staffer to advise the man that he would construct a low cost housing project in his district. The fellow soon came over to the "AYE" side. It's all a matter of style.
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Next - Wedding Trends