Thoughts of a Common Man

There was a very worthy speech at one of the conventions after all. Khizr Kahn took the stage at the DNC and thoroughly captured all that is right in America as he also reminded us all that is wrong. His son, was killed in service of the country during the Iraq war. Kahn's family is Muslim-American. Which makes it a "complicated" issue for all who want to sell the story that every Muslim wants to kill Americans. That kid died a hero...trying to defend American principles in a war that was most likely misguided. How can that story be spun into anything other than tragic? A young Muslim gone, defending America. And Dad was understandably angry with the candidate who wants to ban all Muslims from entering a country that is based on the principles that America is for all. Kahn actually waved a copy of the constitution at the podium and offered it to the candidate who stands in opposition to all Muslims based on the actions of a few. How do the people of ha...

Earlier this week I was driving around and listening to the Big Daddy record by Mellencamp. Immediately my mind clicked back to the day that the record came out. I was living in New Haven, Connecticut. I lived alone. I was 23 years old. I worked long hours at my first real construction job, and I was writing. I was actually writing the book, Desperation , which was about poverty. It was an ambitious book. And wouldn't you know it, Mellencamp had written and released a song about the very subject. Jackie Brown is a song that stopped me in my tracks. I distinctly recall the first time it came through the speakers. The lyrics weren't included in the CD sleeve so I had to stop the song and scratch down the lyrics. Just a great song. There are so many people who suffer, all their lives, just trying to keep their head above the water line. They should not be disposable members of our society. Somehow we have to get them out of the cycle. Jackie Brown - By John Mellencamp Is ...

The Democratic convention is going on this week. I have held tight to my policy of not listening to any of them speak. Doesn't matter the party...I don't want to hear what is going to be made great. It's all kind of Dumb . But the conventions have changed now. Now we also get the live tweeting before and after the actual speakers are speaking. From one side we had about what a great speech it is... ...from the other side we hear how awful it is. It's all so DUMB! What I don't get now, and perhaps it was always this way, but there is absolutely no compromise on either side of the aisle. It's either my way, or you're DUMB! (Usually it's sent as 'your dumb ' which makes the person sending it that way... DUMB! ) Here is my take-away: Using the wrong e-mail server for classified info - DUMB! Inviting the Russian Government to dig through American material - DUMB!! Building a wall - DUMB!!! Not following immigration pr...

Burnout is a real thing. We all have jobs where we hustle...at least I hope most of us do...and when the intensity is amped up for long stretches of time...well, something has to give. I was there. So, we talked of getting away. I have a dream, shared with my brothers, to get back to San Francisco some day and look at the work we did out there about 30 years ago. That trip fell through. So we talked about catching the Yankees in Florida and catching some sun... ...but the sun is here! We stayed home. Kind of. "We need to plan some fun activities," I told my beautiful wife. And so far, so good. Breakfast out nearly every day. Buffalo does have nice hotel rooms, that change the environment. Dinner at one of my favorite Italian places. We checked out good wings at Mammosers. I even played golf for the first time in 6 weeks...and despite continued back and leg pain...I hit the ball well...and survived it. And the running joke has been about the ...

Taking a little break... ...so, of course I caught Kelly Ripa on Monday morning before going out for potato pancakes with eggs! Christian Slater was the guest host (although I should be in that chair) and he spoke about going out to a restaurant and trying new foods. He tried tripe.. ...and hated it. Well, Christian, I've been there. Dad and John, for sure, and Uncle Jim and possibly Jim... ...love tripe! I did try it. Once. Now, of course, Dad made it with his sauce...so it smelled great. But it was like chewing on rubber. Awful-tasting rubber! Whenever I think of tripe I go back in my mind a whole bunch of years. Mom and the girls were gone. It was just Dad and the boys. "I'll make tripe," Dad said. They knew I was out. Jim and John were in. Jeff was on the fence, but like me, he wanted to like it. He was only about 5 years old. He took a forkful and promptly spit it across the table. BLEECH!!! We all laughed. Lucky ther...

Depending upon what you believe there is truth to the following items: 1). Ted Cruz's father ate breakfast with Oswald on the morning of the JFK assassination. Is this true or false? Depends on who you ask. Donald Trump believes it. Ted Cruz says it's idiotic. And yet it is out there....so everyone on social media can use it to create their memes and further their arguments. Verdict: This doesn't appear to have any basis in truth. 2). Obama is a Muslim who has always been plotting to overthrow the American Government. This one has been around ever since we were introduced to Obama. Hell! He has a terrorist name! His middle name is always used when someone is trying to prove this one. Obama has no interest in helping Americans. Before he leaves office...his motives will be crystal clear. Verdict: Really? If you believe this...you're a mess. Delete your accounts. Go back to school. Stop talking. 3). Trump raped a 13-year old. There may be charg...

Chris Sale is a really good pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Evidently he is also something of a hot head. On Saturday he was sent home by the team for cutting up the uniforms that the team was supposed to wear for the game. They were throwback uniforms that Sale didn't like because they caused him to feel differently as he pitched. So he cut them to threads! I also read a story about Ray Rice, the football player who punched his girlfriend in the face, on film. He's been blackballed by the NFL. He says that he'd play for free. Still no takers. Sometimes we are blinded by anger... ...we've all been there. But how we handle it can define the rest of our days. Count to ten! Scream 'Serenity now!' I used to have a temper that I wasn't great at controlling. I control it now...but sometimes...when I get extremely frustrated...I will sound off. "We don't listen to you," Sam said. "You'll be all right." ...

The Yankees have been mediocre all year. In fact, I've had to endure about 25 people a week busting my...err...chops about it. I'm still watching, of course, and I'm more irritated about the people asking me: "Are the Yankees going to trade everyone?" Than I am about the mediocrity. I looked up the standings for July 22, 1978. The Yankees were in 4th place. 10 games behind the Suck Sux. This year they are also in 4th place. Roughly 5 games out. The 1978 team won the World Series. "This team isn't good enough," everyone tells me now. Uh, they were saying the same thing in '78. But it's about more than baseball. Baseball is always about more than baseball to me. These Yankees stumbled out of the gate. I have heard that they need to cut bait and trade everyone for 3 months now. Yeah...since about the middle of April, people were already giving up. We live in that kind of a world. Fight with the wife? Get a new...

I was three years old during convention season back in 1968. If I watched it back then I don't really remember what was said. But I was listening to Tom Brokaw talk about that convention. "If we think we have problems now," he said. "We're forgetting what '68 was like." RFK and MLK had been murdered. The civil unrest back then makes what is happening now seem like a pillow fight. Blacks were elbowing for their basic human rights. Viet Nam was a confusing war. Richard Nixon chose Spiro Agnew. We survived. It seems like everywhere you go these days you hear about people being angry. 1968 was even worse...or so says Brokaw. He spoke about it being his very first convention. He wondered if it would be his last. "And think about it. A matter of months later we were unified as Americans as man walked on the moon." We will be unified again some day. I do believe that. Viet Nam is in the rearview mirror. It's a scar ...

In one of the speeches at the convention the speaker took a few minutes to bash the public school system in America, blaming it, apparently, for the ills of the country. I don't know the reason for the angst, but I do know that I'm a product of the public school system. Most of the people I know, also were veterans of the public school system. Why the attack on it now? The speaker took a few minutes to bash teachers and tenure. The speaker was a private school attendee and extolled the virtues of his privileged upbringing. There are a few things I do know though: 1). Teachers deserve praise and they deserve to be paid like professionals. I had some great teachers. As a teenager, I respected them...and I learned plenty. I had four great English teachers. I loved the subject, of course, but they took the time to teach me. The effort was there...their effort and mine. There were teachers who turned into lifelong friends after school was over. Many days, I think bac...

What's really funny to me is that every time I get back into my car after my beautiful wife uses it... ...E Street Radio is on. I usually listen to shows...Howard, Opie & Jim, Jenny McCarthy and Jay Thomas. So, Bruce was on when I stepped in for a ride. It was a concert from last month and it was just Bruce on the piano singing a song from 1972... For You . Ive heard the song about 10,000 times in 44 years and that might be a conservative estimate. But Bruce was taking his time with it and hitting each word hard. (Listen to the words). Remember how I kept you waiting, when it was my turn to be the God. Is an amazing line...in a relationship. The expectations of each person. He is supposed to be the god to her... ...and never gets there. An exceptional line. And then the end of the relationship is spelled out this way: So you left to find a better reason than the one we were living for. I love words and especially love when someone puts them in th...

That's all I can think of... ...whenever I consider politics and the conventions and the elections and just all of it. So sick of it all already and it's only freaking July!! And it's just not the stealing of the speech. (Which certainly happened). It's every talking head everywhere!! And these shows are cute. They put a pro-Clinton expert against a pro-Trump expert. This is how it goes: Narrator: "So we're here to talk about your policy on keeping America safe. What is your policy?" Pro-Trump Supporter: "Well don't ask Clinton. She's a mass murderer." Pro-Clinton Supporter: "And don't ask Trump. He's a reality star host and he's a racist." Narrator: "Neither of you brought up anything about policy." PTS: "Benghazi. That's Clinton's policy. People died." PTC: "Trump likes his prisoners not captured." (They both start shouting). PTS: "Mr. Trump...

There is tension in the air. I don't think that any American would deny that. Perhaps we can also agree that killing people is bad. All together now? You know who everyone should be mad at? The people doing the killing!!! Still with me? Killing cops is wrong. Shooting people dead at a traffic stop is also a tad harsh. But you know what's really killing us??? Fanning the flames!! It doesn't take a genius to say "I knew there was going to be another shooting!" There are also no points given to people for getting people all worked up by generalizing things when something happens. I couldn't have been more disappointed to read the words from one of the presidential candidates about the sitting president. There's something wrong with his body language? I must be a little slow. I've heard the words delivered after each of the shootings. The president has condemned the violence each time, hasn't he? Didn't he say th...

We're watching a show called Life . It's another NetFlix series and it's all right. Brody from Homeland is in it and since he's not kissing Claire Danes I'm all right with it. But one of the guys who ended up dead in the show was living a double life: With two wives! Can you imagine??? I only have one wife. That's plenty! Now this guy did all right. Both of the women were lookers...no Kathy Fazzolari, mind you...but the guy went to great lengths to keep the women apart. Which was a good idea. He told them that he was a spy and would alternate weeks with his two wives. They both bought it. And then the guy ended up murdered. (I won't spoil the story for you). But I'm thinking that his death was a sweet relief. Poor bastard was making two breakfasts no matter which house he was in on any weekend. He was doing laundry in two places. Emptying two dishwashers. Listening to two sets of work stories. (Okay, maybe that's me...

Okay. He's not the sexy pick. He leans a little left for some people, but he understands those on the right. Here are some of his stances: Guns? You want one...God Bless You...don't shoot me or yourself! Legalize Marijuana Go for it! People would spin in a circle to get dizzy if they had to. Wall Street? Put the bastards in jail for stealing! Let the honest ones stay. In other words, shut it down. Gays? Let people live their own lives. New Bills Stadium? Hell yeah! Super Bowl in 2050!!! Yes, I have chosen as my pick: Mr. Jeff Popple Now Mr. Popple certainly has his detractors. Sarah Palin said this about him: "We, as Americans, should be saying that us Americans, don't need another shooting from the hip, gay-supporting, pot advocate because we need to be chasing moose and riding our snowmobiles to the House of God where us Americans meet to be fun-loving, gun shooting people who love the flag and don't want him. Or something. I d...

So. I was hanging out in the Midwest late this week and I woke up Thursday morning in Kansas City and got on the road early for the drive to Iowa. It's a three hour plus drive, but I got on the road about 7...which makes it 8 back home. A little early for the start of Camp Clifford activities, but the head counselor with the healing knee had to be in the middle of coffee hour. I dropped a text: "Good morning, how's the knee?" No answer. Mile after mile of corn. 60 or so miles passed. I stopped at a rest stop. "You there?" I texted. Back in the car. Another hour passed. I tried to ring her...straight to voice mail. More corn. Your mind wanders to crazy scenarios. A couple of the campers should be rising soon: I texted them. "Anyone up? I'm looking for Mom." No answer. I arrived at the site and got ready for the meeting. The meeting started. My phone beeped. "I'm here, I'll look," one ...

The great NBA reporter, Craig Sager, won an ESPY on Wednesday night for his battle with cancer and his ability to rise above it. Now... ...Sager is a semi-famous guy. His strength is inspiring. He also knows that he's not alone...that there are millions of people who did just what he did...received horrible news from the doctor... ...and got after it anyway! What was special about Sager's acceptance speech was that he referenced Jimmy V's "Don't give up! Don't ever give up!" speech, but he also put his own touch on it. Time... ...he reminded us is precious and limited. He spoke of doing chemo and radiation for 14 straight days in an effort to stay alive. Trying to get more time. And that's what so many of us really need to hear. The trivial crap...the garbage thoughts...the bickering and fighting. The sadness. Sager was amazing in the delivery of his speech. All upbeat. He made me laugh. He made me think. He made me ...

Who says that all the news is bad? I had a huge smile on my face as I read about Lance "Douche" Armstrong being sued for $100 million by the federal government. Now anyone who has read the blog from the start understands that I called Lance a huge fake way before he got busted. He has spent his entire life as a fraud and now he's trying his best to say that the people who were paying him millions, in the name of cancer, were doing it at their own risk. And you know what? He's probably still acting like an arrogant p$&ck. I still don't care for him and I hope he ends up homeless. I stopped grinning when I got to the Penn State "new" information that said that Paterno and his staff knew all about pedophile Sandusky back in the 1970's. I didn't want to be right about Paterno, but there's no way he didn't know. He supposedly was told of one instance of abuse involving a 14-year old boy and he allegedly said: "I don...

Was absolutely drained by the sun after being out in it for the majority of the days on Monday and Tuesday. But I don't complain about the heat because I absolutely hate the cold weather... ...so no whining here! Yet I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard someone ask: "Hot enough for you?" What makes you ask such a question? What is the suitable response? "I wish it were hotter." I never know why to say to that... ...I usually don't respond. The baseball all-star game was on last night and I didn't watch it. I never do, actually. I watch so much baseball during the year that I take the 4 days off just like the rest of the players who didn't make the all-star team. A couple of years ago my mother handed me my little league all-star trophy... ...from 1976. I remember how excited I was when I was picked to the team. I also recall getting a hit in the actual all-star game. I caught two innings. We won too. Ice cr...

I know some big, burly construction workers who are now running around town in search of Pokemon characters. Have you heard about this? Evidently there's an app that points you in the direction of the characters from that goofy Pokemon series. You travel, outside, in the real world, and a character some how pops up and you take your picture with it. I'm not kidding! And adults are chasing these characters around. Okay, full disclosure here... ...I paid a freaking fortune for those Pokemon cards! For some reason...because of his goofy friends...Jake got mixed up in the Pokemon craze. A pack of those cards was about 4 bucks. There were about three cards in each pack. I remember one particular day when I bought three packs. Jake looked through them in less than 10 seconds...tossed them aside saying "I got all of them." $12 bucks down the drain. And you know where those cards are now? All over the basement storage room... ...hundreds of them. ...

1). The Bon Jovi commercial makes me shake my head every time. Is he broke? Did he understand how stupid he'd look singing a badly ryhmed song about rewinding during a television show? Then he turns and looks at the camera as if to say "Ain't I good?" 2). Every weekend during the summer there are walks and races all across this nation to raise money to fight all sorts of diseases and disabilities. That's good news and shows the compassion of so many. I find it hard to believe that there are more callous, hateful people than caring and compassionate people. I just think that it sort of sells less. Most everyone you know is still pretty decent, right? 3). We spent years and years trying to allow rights for a whole bunch of different groups of people...then along came some people saying..."Those people are..." This or that. And when you start lumping people together... ...you're back at square one. 4). One step up and two steps back. (...

My beautiful wife had knee surgery on Thursday, and it was a long time coming. For anyone who watched her hobble around for two years, you know how much she needed to get it done. The boys called her: "Our pet seal." And it all went fine. "It doesn't even hurt," she announced a few hours after having it done. "That's the exact mentality that made me climb a ladder the day I had it done," I said. "The anesthesia will wear off. You'll see." But the thing about life is that no one really ever listens to anyone. "Why does it hurt so much?" She asked me just 36 hours later. I wanted to laugh... ...a little. Of course we've been married long enough for me to say "I told you!" Yet we have all done our part. Sam, who has long been our legs around here, gets the phone chargers, carries Kathy's stuff around and puts it into her next room, Jake is making the frozen lemonade runs to Tim Horton...

Just as I thought, yesterday was an irritating day. More than irritating...I keep thinking...sad. Started the day with a guy who texted me to say that the shooting in Dallas was a conspiracy to go on a gun grab across the country. All part of an 8-year plan. I didn't answer that...didn't even humor the guy. Then I heard a news report featuring a relative of one of the people gunned down in Dallas. That certainly didn't do much for my mood. But the poor woman said something that made me strongly consider the deep hurt. She said that to all the news outlets it was just about how many people that die. 5 dead...12 wounded. And that's all it means to some people who are keeping score. "No one knows how this will devastate us," the woman said. And that was what caught my heart. We have heard a whole lot of numbers lately. How many in Orlando? What was the count in that church? The school in Connecticut? The Colorado movie theatre? ...

I've never really had a confrontation with a police officer. I did catch a ride to a police station once where Kathy picked me up. It was a long time ago...when the Bills won a game to head to one of the Super Bowls. I wouldn't drive my car home...which was a good idea...the cops were actually complimentary of my good judgement. I remember that we talked football and laughed a little. So, I don't have much to say about being fearful when the cops are around. And I certainly respect the job they do. But with all that being said the recent events in the news... ...two men being shot to death... One in Minnesota and one in Baton Rouge... ...has set the argument afire. Yet... ...the cop who shot the man in Minnesota was an emotional mess immediately following the tragic traffic stop. I listened to and watched the video that the man's girlfriend captured on her phone. It was disturbing. And should be disturbing to anyone who sees it. The man was...

Are there morals when it comes to business? For instance? Do you have to worry about your creditors when you file for bankruptcy? The Donald has come under fire a little for filing for bankruptcy 4 times... ...he's unapologetic saying that it's all part of operating a business and doing so within the rules established. But is it immoral? How about Kevin Durant? The superstar basketball player who played out his contract and being free to sign with any team decided to leave his team and go elsewhere. To his rivals. There are kids all over Oklahoma burning their Durant jerseys. I watched a video of a Dad breaking the news to his young son. The kid was crying. Should Durant feel bad about that? "It's a business," is what you always hear. Durant played his heart out over ten years in Oklahoma City. Be sure that if Durant couldn't do the work anymore... ...they'd push him out the door. But hurt feelings are part of the game... .....

Had a long drive on Tuesday and I put on CNN for a portion of it. Man! Everything is negative!! Was that the Jewish star sent in the tweet by Donald? Why didn't Hillary go to jail???? One thing after another... ...and then I listened to three speeches... One by Trump. One by Hillary. One by Obama. Speeches by political candidates are always nauseating, but this campaign season tops them all! I have a few questions: 1). Will Obama try stand-up when he's unemployed? He really has a great sense of timing and when he is off-script he speaks like a stand-up. I've done funny speeches and I can tell you, it's not easy and that timing is important. He could do it. 2). If elected president will Donald continue with "amazing", "unbelievable", and the all-popular "I would never say that she's a crook but some of my people might suggest that, but I won't say it." The Donald has a distinctive speech style as well ...

The 3-day weekend is behind us. You get the exact opposite mood today as the one you felt on Friday. The "How was your weekend?" Followed by the "it was too short." I mentioned to my beautiful wife that 3-day weekends used to be about beer, golf and the Yankees." Well, beer is no longer part of my game, the Yankees are on the west coast and my hip postponed golf. So...rest, dogs and food! Speaking of which, my dogs hate the 4th of July. I don't understand the neighborhood fireworks. My dogs hate it and that's usually where you hear about the guys who join the amputation club. About 30 years ago I went to a 4th of July party in Brooklyn and there were some Italian-American guys there who scared me...even though they liked my surname. These guys were shooting off fireworks for hours and even asked if I wanted to light some. "I've been a wussy since I was born. I'll just watch," I said. But I did ask where in the hell they...

We had a visitor to Camp Clifford this week: My nephew John called last Sunday and appeared nervous to ask me if he could spend the week with his cousins. "You're always welcome." So he arrived and really got the new season here at Camp Clifford started. They must have played a hundred games of basketball. Every single day they were either playing in the driveway or heading to a park to play. And they ate and drank pop, Gatorade, iced tea... ...anything they could get their hands on. Not only did they eat whatever we made for dinner, but they also went on a food run every night. They stayed up until the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday night I heard them giggling... ...at quarter to three in the morning. "Yo, I'm trying to sleep up here!" I called down. The laughing continued. The next morning, as he ate about six eggs with pork sausage I asked Johnny: "Why were you laughing like that at three in the morning?" ...

Hard not to think of America, right... ...lots of flag-waving this weekend and rightfully so. We still do great things... ...along with all the embarrassing crap. I was thinking about baseball, of course and they kind of ruined me this weekend by making the Yankees play out west. Good, bad or indifferent...I love watching the Yankees play. But I was thinking about great moments in the sport the other day because Cespedes of the Mets hit a home run that was estimated to have traveled about 460 feet. The announcers were going crazy and I thought about Mantle, of course. They say that he hit a ball that was estimated to have gone about 620 feet! I still think that's the most amazing thing in sports. 620 feet!!! Yet it got me thinking about my favorite baseball moments: 5). Reggie hits 3 to win Game 6 - This one was on my 13th birthday and Dad was the guy watching with me. We were simply amazed and so happy. The Yankees hadn't won a series in quite awhile...

Matt Imhof is a pitcher in the Phillies farm system. His path to the majors may have ended though... ...tragically. Imhof, who is 22 years old, and who definitely had a shot to one day play in the bigs, was working out on a piece of exercise equipment that is used to stretch. The equipment malfunctioned and a large piece of metal flew through the air... ...striking Imhof in the face. He broke bones in his face. His right eye... ...was squashed like a grape. He had it removed a day later. Doesn't that make you sad? As I was reading the story I didn't think of the moment when he was struck in such a freak incident. Instead I was struck by how happy he had been when he signed his deal. The hopes and dreams that he had... ...everyone sharing in his talent of throwing a ball. And bam! Just like that🔥 Up in flames. I saw a photo of Imhof in a hospital bed and I read his statement to all who were worried about his frame of mind. He promised that ...

Woo-hoo!!! It's almost here! The Friday before a 3-day weekend is a cool day. Everyone is kinda' happy. People are friendlier. "Have a nice weekend!" Those words will ring out all day today...and I must admit... ...it's all changed for me. I remember long weekends when the plans were set well in advance. The first two days would be a complete mess and the 3rd day would be all about rest. Now. It's just about the rest! What I am not looking forward to is all the fireworks and having to try and keep my poor dogs calm. Melky hates the 4th of July weekend! Still, hopefully there will be some family time. Maybe a nap or two! The Yankees are out on the west coast which will kinda' ruin the plans to watch baseball... ...golf is still on hold because my legs don't wanna' work... ...but you know who else won't be working? Me!!! Have a great weekend!