Weekly Mail September 24, 2017

Hey:

Parenting is hard, I've stated that obvious fact many times. If ever I've had to learn to savor victories and brush off defeats, I've learned how necessary it is as a parent. I don't care how awesome your kid is, (and mine is as awesome as they come) you are going to be handed your share of frustrations.

We got Tim a bike for his birthday. He had one several years ago with training wheels on it that he outgrew. He didn't realy express any desire to learn to ride again till recently.

So we got him a fairly large bike with no training wheels. And it was up to me to get him riding. We practiced a bit near Tara's parent's house, but that was a struggle. So I took him last weekend to Oceanside Park, where there was some grassy areas, hoping he'd be less afraid to fall if he had a softer landing. He started to get it, but I noticed that he was pushing hard on the pedals and not gaining much speed in the grass. So I moved him back to the concrete sidewalk in the park. And bam! He was off and riding.

The only thing he needed to really work on was getting himself started. So Friday night, Tara and I took him to Bay Park in East Rockaway, where we found a jogger's path near the water. There was plenty of grass on one side of the path, but otherwise it was smooth concrete. By the time we were done, Timmy was doing it all on his own. He gets the overwhelming majority of the credit, but I'm putting this one in the W column for me too.

 I taught my kid how to ride a bike!

YAY!


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TELEVISION: Emmy's Get Spicy


So everyone was up in arms last Sunday because former White House mouthpiece Sean Spicer made a cameo during host Stephen Colbert's Emmy Awards monologue.

You can't have him on! they yelled, "You'll just legitimize him! I heard people say.

In the immortal words of Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything... You Must Chill!

Every other joke out of Colbert's mouth the other night was a dig at President Trump, $hit, Colbert has made his living as host of the Late Show by whipping up on all things Trump. You think having Sean Spicer out there for 5 seconds was going to make anyone think that Hollywood was going soft on Trump? Give me a break. Alec Baldwin won an Emmy for, you guessed it, impersonating Trump on Saturday Night Live (a rather lame impression if you ask me-Darrell Hammond's was much better*)

What if Spicer has seen the error of his ways and now is coming out to make amends, anyone consider that?  I'm sorry, there are some people in this administration that are doing some real damage here, --Betsy DeVos and Steve Minuchin come to mind-- I don't think Spicer should be blackballed for the rest of his life. Maybe he really is an a$$hole, but I give him credit for going out there the other night.



POLITICS: Going and Coming in an Uber

Frank Scurlock, a candidate for Mayor of New Orleans, was allegedly caught slappin his salami in the back of an Uber this past February in Los Angeles.

The story, first reported by the New Orleans Advocate states that Scurlock was in an Uber en-route to a West Hollywood hotel, when the female driver heard strange noises coming from the back seat. She stopped the car and opened the back door to catch Scurlock, George Costanza style, holding his pecker. She went to a gas station to call the cops and he took off. If you can't laugh at that visual, some dude making a run for it with a boner, than what can you laugh at?

Scurlock is running on a platform to make New Orleans safer and more fun, and, well, it looks like he's leading by example on the second part. Making this story even more fun (if that's possible) Scurlock's father owned and operated Space Walk Inc, a bouncy house manufacturer. What was the old jingle for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups "two great things that go great together"

He's talking about dropping out of the race, but he shouldn't. Are you kidding? Wikipedia up the list of misfits that were/are the politicians of Louisiana. Ray Nagin former mayor of New Orleans who hid out on Air Force One during Hurricaine Katrina, now doing time for wire fraud and conspiracy. Edwin Edwards, four time governor of Louisiana, with a rap sheet that would make Suge Knight blush. William Jefferson (not Clinton) a former Congressman convicted of bribery. You could build a wing at any major prison and have it filled with former Louisiana pols. Lewd behavior is the least of the crimes.

He's denying all the charges, in which if he is convicted, he'll have to register as a sex offender in California. (It's unclear if he will have to register in Louisiana as well. )

I'm hoping he beats off the rap. (pun intended)

SPORTS: OMG! Melo to OKC

Saturday afternoon, reports began to come out that the Knicks were finally able to unload Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Some are decrying the trade due to the low rate of return, but when you factor in that Anthony was making a ridiculous amount of money,(thanks Phil Jackson) is not gettin any younger, and that the Knicks made no secret of the fact they wanted to get rid of him, I think they are lucky to have gotten what they did.

So ends another era of a failed franchise savior. One thing I give Carmelo credit for is this... He wanted to play here. He enjoyed being a Knick at a time where it wasn't hip or cool to be one. I'm sure his motivation was more money and media attention than championship aspirations, but he wasn't a bad guy.

The trade the Knicks made for him, in hindsight was a bad one, only because they were actually having a decent year when they got him, but ended up trading a bunch of players to get him. Wilson Chandler, Timofey Mozgev, Danillo Galanari, Raymond Felton and the right of the Nuggets to swap draft picks with the Knicks. None of the players traded are heading for Springfield. But the team that was put together that year had some potential.

The Knicks right now are almost as irrelevant as the Jets, but at least the Jets kind of/sort of have a plan. The Knicks are just a big mess. The only thing they accomplished was opening up some more cap space.


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This weeks Bar Room B.S.


http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2017/09/most-consecutive-weeks-on-top-of.html


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One more thing on sports and taking a bit of a serious turn as I've tried to keep it light this week, seeing what happened to that poor girl this week at Yankee Stadium was a heartbreak, but the reactions of the players on both teams restored my faith in humanity a bit. I'm the first one to rip an athlete for bad behavior, but seeing how shaken up Todd Frazier was, and the tears coming down Matt Holliday's cheeks, I mean, these Yankees are pretty easy to root for.

Be that as it may, all baseball stadiums need to extend that netting.


The Jets are now the best football team in NY. Let that sink in for a few minutes :O)

Hope all is Well

and Have a Great Week


* That's not to say Baldwin doesn't do good impressions. I love his Tony Bennett and he once did Charles Nelson Reilly and had me dying.