Hello:
What a week this was....
TERROR IN MANCHESTER:
Was taking Timmy to basketball the other night when that horrible news from Manchester, England came over. 22 dead, scores injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at an Ariana Grande concert. Most of the victims, young kids.
I've said this before and I'm sorry to say it again; you certainly don't have to be a parent to understand the horror, to feel the pain of what happened Monday night. But if you are a parent, it hits home a bit harder. I never would have agreed with that statement before Timmy came around, but it's the truth. The first time I really remember feeling that was after the Sandy Hook Massacre. One of the papers had all the pictures of the little kids who were senselessly killed on the front page, and all I saw were 14 pictures of my son looking back at me. I know I'm not the only one who goes through that.
I went after Ariana Grande a couple of years ago after she said she hated Americans because they didn't take care of themselves (she was partially right about that) but I felt bad for her the other night. She seemed to be carrying a ton of guilt over what happened, and while it may be natural for her to feel that way, this was obviously not her fault. (A-hole conservative bloggers notwithstanding). Grande has offered to pay for the victims funeral costs and to her credit has vowed to come back to Manchester to play again. Good for her.
Another thing I always say is that President Bush had it right when he said "We have to be right every time. They have to be right once." ISIS is obviously still very much in business, and the fight against them must go on.
It's just always jarring when we get the reminder.
OBITUARIES:
I swear, since I sat down to write this, I heard that Jim Bunning and Greg Allman have died. Bunning pitched in the major leagues for the Tigers, Phillies, Pirates, and Dodgers over a 17 year career. He then went on to a long career in politics, serving in both houses as a Representative of Kentucky. He seemed to have a hard time keeping his foot out of his mouth in his later years in the Senate. That, and his low poll numbers led him to retire rather than run for a third term in 2010. As a Met fan, I'm familiar with Bunning having been one of the pitchers to threw a perfect game against us, on Father's Day 1964 at Shea.
Greg Allman of course was the Southern Rock pioneer and co-founder of the Allman Brother's Band. Also was married to Cher for a while. Not a big Allman Brother's fan here, but have to give them props for their contribution to Southern Rock. You can't go more than a day or two without hearing Ramblin Man being played somewhere.
Speaking of Cher; I went to high school with a dude who had a crush on Cher, and he got his balls busted pretty good for it too (amongst other things). But seeing her at the Billboard Music Awards last week, I have to say she looked pretty damn good considering she's 71 years old.
The obit I WAS planning to write was about Sir Roger Moore, who died Tuesday at age 89. Last year while I was in cardiac rehab, I went with the guys to see Spectre, and for the rest of my sessions, James Bond talk dominated. Of course you can't discuss James Bond without debating who was the best Bond. I always found that those who first saw Sean Connery as Bond go bat$hit if you suggest anyone else was better.
I think that you relate to the Bond that you first saw in the movies. For me, that was Roger Moore.
I remember watching Octopussy on HBO with some friends in Rockaway. The scene when he was fighting in India and he pulled the sword out of the sword swallower's mouth, killed his opponent, then told the sword swallower that he "better put this back yourself" was a classic. He brought more humor to the role than did Connery or those who came after him. Sean Connery may have been the greatest Bond ever, but Moore was my favorite. Plus he was in one of my all time favorite movies, The Cannonball Run. For that alone, he's was the man.
WAR CRIMES: No this is not about Dick Cheney, so please relax..
On line this week, a few of my St. Mary's classmates were discussing our 5th Grade trip to Philadelphia. Of course as it usually happens many funny stories came up and a few horror stories. As Keri DeAngelo pointed out,
"We went to school under a trestle, a block from a strip club and a no tell-motel/homeless shelter. We never needed street cred!
So you think one of us geniuses would have come up with this idea 35 years or so ago...
Ava Bell, an 11 year old girl from Glasgow, Scotland suggested on a student feedback form that her teacher violated the Geneva Convention by collectively punishing the class for one person's misbehavior. According to the BBC Online....
Asked what her teacher could do better, Ava Bell wrote: "Not use collective punishment as it is not fair on the many people who did nothing and under the 1949 Genva [sic] Conventions it is a war crime."
That's right folks, little Ava essentially called her teacher a war criminal.
My family is still very good friends with my third grade teacher. But should she be sent to the Hague for making us all chip in 10 cents after someone swiped Jenny Tsai's Hello Kitty pencil case? My fourth grade teacher admitted I wasn't being disrespectful when she made me and the rest of the boys write 300 times "I must not be disrespectful in class." Where's the tribunal for her?
The possibilities are endless. St. Mary's was the capital of collective punishment.
Ava admitted that her teacher was awesome save for this one issue she has. And again, I met Mrs. McArdle last year on a rare trip to St. Mary's church and was thrilled to introduce Timmy to her (and to Mrs. McNamara, who I also love, but who also made me stay after school for something I didn't do.) I'm lucky to have had them in my life, but THEY are lucky Ava Bell wasn't one of their students, or they might be facing the firing squad.
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On this Memorial Day, I once again quote from For the Fallen by British Poet Laurence Binyon. Sadly, it could apply to the kids in Manchester this week as well.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Have a Great Week
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