Where Were You?

On this date every year, any adult over age fifty-five, will ask that question as we remember the day our world shook and as someone wrote "we suffered the loss of innocence."  November 22, 1963 was a Friday. I was working on plans for our waterfront Communion breakfast to be held on the Sunday and a Maryknoll missionary friend home on leave from East Africa agreed to address our group and our budget allowed for a honorarium of fifty dollars. Then he called to say that his local parish pastor offered him the opportunity to speak at all the Sunday masses and keep the proceeds of all the collections - which dwarfed my offering so I released him from his promise and he provided a substitute missionary from Bolivia. After JFK was shot on the Friday all the churches overflowed on the following Sunday and my friend had a financial windfall to take back to Tanzania. So that a large scale tragedy on one hand resulted in a small scale serendipity on  the other.
The National Football League decided to go ahead with their scheduled Sunday games and as I had tickets and a Bolivian missionary on my hands, I took him to the Eagles game and Franklin Field was packed with 60,000 attendees. It was then that word circulated thru the crowd that Jack Ruby had fatally shot Oswald on live TV.  For those of us alive back then it was an unforgettable five days and the memories come flooding back with today's commemoration. R.I.P. JFK.
tjs
(The Blog will be silent next week as we celebrate Thanksgiving with family - resume in December)

The Merry Mex

Many golf fans will recognize Lee Trevino, the Mexican-American famous for his golfing ability as well as his humor. He once carried a rubber snake in his bag and during a playoff with Jack Nicklaus in a U.S. Open he came out of the weeds and threw the snake at Jack who took it in good fun even in the midst of a serious championship - Trevino won that match. One time he lingered on the course during an electric storm and was struck by lightning. Asked what he would do in the future he said he would grab a number one iron because not even God can hit a "one". He was a blue collar kind of guy and when he lived in Texas he used to mow his own lawn. While grass cutting and perspiring one day an auto pulled up to his curb, a woman inside rolled down her window and asked him how much he charged for yard work. He came over to her and said "I have an arrangement with the lady inside - she lets me sleep with her and I take care of her lawn."The woman rolled up her window and sped away.
tjs

Going for the Gold

The winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia beginning in February 2014. At these events it is routine to test samples from athletes to assure that banned substances have not been used to enhance performance. We have seen such practices in the worlds of cycling and baseball where individuals seek an edge on competitors similar to what certain Wall Streeters do with inside trading. But with the big show only three months away we now hear that the laboratory setup at Sochi does not pass muster for quality to determine desired results. The same situation has arisen in Brasil where the World Cup is to be held in June 2014. In Brasil's case - with fewer athletes to check - they are planning to fly their "samples" to Switzerland for analysis. If Russia elects to go the Swiss route the labs there will be working overtime. And so it is as the chase for miscreants goes on. I am reminded of a certain late Sen. Charles W. Tobey of New Hampshire who served on the Kefauver Crime Committee in 1950 at a televised hearing where he was questioning an elusive member of an alleged "crime" family.  Sen. Tobey, who was an ardent Baptist and down east Yankee,  finally yelled at him "Be ye clean!" We could use that chant today.
tjs

Going to the Dogs II

When we traveled with our twenty-five pound Scottish terrier, she always rode in the baggage hold of the airplane in her kennel carrier for the two hour flight - and for a fee. However, if I could obtain a letter from a mental health professional, Bonnie Lass could have been certified as "an emotional support animal" - sit on my lap - and ride FREE.  Such designation differs from that of a "service" animal such as seeing eye dogs.  And it appears that an "emotional support" animal is not exclusive to just dogs! With planes currently running full there is always jockeying for the arm rests so take notice of your neighbor in the adjacent seat who may have a "lap full." And hope you don't have an allergy. One low cost airline expects to carry 20,000 emotional support and service animals this year - an average of 400 per week. While my air travel is limited these days, I thought I would alert you to the trend which seems to be growing.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/business/emotional-support-with-fur-draws-complaints-on-planes.html

Mistaken Identity

In the recent election in Boston, Marty Walsh was elected the new mayor. It seems that there are six Martin Walshes in the Boston directory and when Joe Biden called to congratulate, he was connected to the wrong Marty. Biden being Biden he probably congratulated the surprised Marty for being Irish.
Similarly, there are at least two Jonathan Martins out there - one a professional football player and the other a reporter for a prominent New York newspaper - the latter recently finding his hashtag buzzing with unanticipated activity - some of which unprintable.  Then I began to think that there are hundreds of individuals out there bearing my own surname and, hopefully, none of them commits a heinous crime else my dormant "hashtag" will come alive from those vicious vendors of venomous vitriol. Alas, such is life when fame or fortune - albeit misplaced - comes your way.
tjs

On Second Thought

It's the second mouse who gets the cheese.

At a public restroom, incoming traffic has the right of way.

You can lead a horse to water but if you can get him to do the backstroke, ya got something.

One good turn gets all the blanket.

Technology is the knack of so arranging the world that we don't have to experience it. - Max Frisch.

The meek may inherit the earth but they won't get many rebounds.

No good deed goes unpunished.
tjs

Social Media Shortcomings

My cousin John, also a Scorpio, died suddenly last July. His birthday would have been celebrated this week. So several days ago I received a "pop up" reminder from F-book to wish John a happy birthday and perhaps send him a gift. Now I realize that there are millions of friends out there busy friending each other and the F-book founders are pre-occupied with the price of their stock, so no one has time to read the daily obituaries. All the same, it is a bit of a jolt for families working thru their grief to receive such reminders months after the death of a loved one. Can't quite bring myself to defriend the dead. Just a thought.
tjs

Going to the Dogs

New regulations and revelations have penetrated the Swiss Banks' ability to hide funds from tax collectors.  This has caused many depositors to move money around within the Euro Zone. It has been moving in suitcases, shoe boxes and even secreted in baby carriages. The denomination favored is the 500 Euro note in bundles. While much of it slips thru, some security groups at airports have been training sniffer dogs to detect "the ink on banknotes." Wow! So the next time you are passing thru airport security and you see a German Shepherd approaching, hold onto your wallet and hope you don't have a stray 500 Euro note stuck between your greenbacks. Caveat emptor!
tjs

Currency Exchange

Russia, in its continuing effort to portray the Ruble as a safe currency for investment, is seeking a symbol similar to our dollar sign ($). The logical approach might be to use the capital R but in the Cyrillic alphabet an R looks like a P - and this could be confusing. They have suggested five signs using R and P with vertical and horizontal lines. The Central Bank announced that one symbol is heavily favored and investors are holding their breaths to learn the victor. BTW, the Ruble is trading at 30 to the dollar - or about three cents each.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/world/europe/ruble-hopes-to-join-ranks-of-the-dollar-and-euro.html

Zodiac Sign

Today, as I turn another page in the book of life, I find myself surrounded by a cyclone of Scorpios, including my daughter-in-law, Godchild and my personal physician who opined that we both being fellow Scorpios may explain why we get along so well. But I can't fail to include my late father-in-law whose centenary of his birth is today - we shared eleven-eleven. He was a man of great integrity. In his professional life he was a CPA and tax accountant and you could take his numbers to the bank. In his family life he educated his five daughters which was not a common practice of the day. He was a very thoughtful man and graciously welcomed me into his family. In his later years I grew to appreciate his views on life and sought his opinions on sundry subjects. My Irish grandmother might have described him as "a man you won't meet every day." John, I hope you will save me a seat behind the Pearly Gates - but not too soon.
tjs

Quotes of the Week

A prominent Tech firm explaining its third quarter loss:........."due to noncash intangible asset impairments." I can empathize with them as I have experienced similar "impairments" trying to balance my checkbook.

The U.S. Attorney in New York is waging a crusade against insider trading in the Hedge Fund Industry and was quoted "no firm should consider itself TOO BIG TO JAIL" Ouch!

The "largest" mayor of the largest Canadian city has admitted to smoking crack cocaine - "probably in one of my drunken stupors."  Wow! I haven't heard that descriptive phrase in a long time. It seems so twentieth century.

Sorry to close on a down note but enjoy the weekend anyway......and the holidays to follow.
tjs

Red Buttons Remembered

Some years ago we held a testimonial dinner for a retiring colleague and in the spirit of Toasting/Roasting I offered to paraphrase a Red Buttons routine about all the famous people in history who "never got a dinner":
-Napoleon's weather forecaster-
-Dwight Eisenhower's speechwriter-
-Richard Nixon's makeup man-
-Dan Quayle's spelling teacher-
-Bill Clinton's hair stylist (she never got a dinner)-
-Harry Houdini's locksmith-
-Fidel Castro's valet-
-Manuel Noriega's plastic surgeon-
-Amelia Earhart's navigator-

All these important people operating in the wings "NEVER GOT A DINNER" - and yet, you my friend, are being feted with a "dinner".... He lived another fifteen years in retirement and never missed a dinner.
tjs

Bullying

The dreaded word "bullying" has reared its head again in the headlines - this time spreading its misery into professional football locker rooms. The tactic can manifest itself early on the playground, then gravitate thru school corridors and lunch rooms and then go viral on social media sometimes contributing to teen suicides.  I once worked with a colleague who was a retired professional football
player. He had two Super Bowl rings  - one on each hand to balance himself as they were huge. Once, while discussing the subject of hazing at training camp, he volunteered that they used to make the rookies stand on a chair in the dining hall and sing their school song. Pretty tame compared to what we read today. But this was forty-some years ago when they still wore leather helmets and made a lot less money.
tjs

Big - Bigger - BIGGEST

Ed Sullivan used to call it a "really big show" - Woody Allen might say "Gigantic" in his New Yorkese. So I read where a prominent television manufacturer whose name begins with "S" has come

 out with an 85 inch set. That's seven feet one inch - some of my walls are not that wide. How far do I have to sit back to watch? Will I be outside looking thru the window? Do I need to wear special glasses? Must I hire ushers with flashlights?  Egad! For someone weaned on a twelve inch black and white  Philco set this sounds enormous and at least eye-popping. How high is up?
tjs

'Tis the Season

With Christmas merchandise popping up all over already it appears we are in for a long holiday season culminating with singing carols on Christmas Eve. One of my favorites is a Welsh carol dating to 1866 which lyrics go as follows:
-Deck the hall with boughs of holly - Fa la la la la la la la la.
-'Tis the season to be jolly - Fa la la la la la la la la.
-Don we now our gay apparel - troll the ancient Christmas carol - Fa la la la la la la la la.

Now comes Hallmark changing my apparel to "fun" - after 150 years they want to alter gaiety to just "fun". Now the Salvation Army will have to change all their songbooks as I have to change my apparel. As Scrooge would say "Humbug!" We already have "Xmas" and the suggestion of a "Holiday" Tree and even Kramer's (of Seinfeld) invention of "The Festivus for the rest of us" with his aluminum tree/pole. I really wish they would stop tampering with tradition.
tjs

Fall Back

This Sunday we "Fall Back" and regain that hour we lost last spring. I have always thought that Daylight Saving Time lasted too long. Now we have the chore of changing all the wall clocks, kitchen appliance clocks, radio clocks and nobody alerts the small animals crossing the road that a new dawn is dawning. Armadillos are particularly slow. My personal hiccup occurred on the Spring Forward end some years ago when I planned my annual exodus from cold Philadelphia to the sunny Caribbean. PanAm had only one flight from PHL daily at 10AM - My travel agent - also representing the carrier - anticipating the change over on the first Sunday in March - issued me a paper ticket for an 11AM departure.  But when I arrived at the airport with my baggage and tennis racquet, the plane was gone as PanAm had not changed their timetable. The agent was closing shop to go home and didn't want to see me standing there. He offered that there was a flight from New York JFK that afternoon, did I want to rebook. I said yes - how do I get to JFK? He suggested I take the Pennsylvania Railroad whereupon I demurred quietly - after all it was Sunday morning. With my protest ringing in his ear he began working the phones and found me a shuttle flight to JFK leaving shortly - connections made - and I arrived at my destination in time for the vertical sunset followed by the green flash - and a story for the cocktail crowd.
tjs