Hope all is well as we sail through the halfway point of October. Another beautiful weather weekend.
I had seen something posted on Facebook the other day suggesting that us adults not give any older kids any guff about trick or treating, since the alternative might be something more unsavory. Back in my day, that was egging and creaming, throwing eggs and spraying shaving cream on people. I always thought that was stupid and I never did it.
But I also suggested that 10 years ago, many of our kids weren’t able to trick or treat in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. And I had it pointed out that COVID-19 caused a bunch of kids to miss out two years ago. So, yeah, if you see some teenagers dressing up and trick or treating, just give ‘em some candy.
I know we’re a couple of weeks away from Halloween, but it’s important to plan ahead. Plus I’m having a hard time coming up with things to write about TBH.
So let’s start with a book review…
Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir
By: Jann S. Wenner
I was ambivalent about reading this memoir. As much I respected Wenner for what he did with Rolling Stone, I wasn't much interested in him personally. But as I thought back to everything Rolling Stone had covered in it's 55 years of existence, and I figured if nothing else, those stories would keep me interested for a bit.
And for the most part they did.
He's pretty much met anybody who is anybody in show biz or politics. Interviewed many of them too.
The problem I had with the book is that after a while, it seems more about name dropping and showing off than it is about building and running the magazine. Bruce and Patti, Mick, Keith, John and Yoko, Bob (Dylan) Pauls...McCartney (who he liked, but also made it clear he was a Lennon man) and Simon (who he didn't like, loved his music but thought he was a$$hole as a person*)
Wenner also bragged about all the property he owned, all the vacations he took, (and with who) his plane, his motorcycles etc... and then at one point had the audacity to write this....
David (Geffen) had a way of making you feel bad because you weren't as rich as he was..
You don't say?
And here's some meat for you Right Wingers out there... Wenner bragged about how he pushed Rolling Stone's reporters to fight for environmental issues. He bragged how much he helped Al (Gore) during his 2000 Presidential Campaign. Probably helped him while flying around on his private plane or sailing on his ocean polluting yacht.
Maybe I'm being harsh on him, I mean I did read the whole book, there was never a time where I was like "That's it, I can't deal with this dude anymore" I mean I started reading it because I wanted to hear about the people he met, and now here I am complaining about that. I don't know, he just came off more bragging than story telling at times.
If you dig rock and roll and those who made rock and roll go, you'll get a kick out of some of it. Maybe I was just having a bad week and not in the best frame of mind to enjoy this. I just got the feeling after a while that I was sitting at a bar next to some annoying old man recounting his golden days of yesteryear. Sort of cross between Forrest Gump sitting at that bus stop in Savannah and Al Bundy talking about his 4 TD day for Polk High.
2.5 Auggies.
And why you may ask, was I having such a bad week? Well, since you asked....
BASEBALL PLAYOFFS:
So the Rangers opened their season at the Garden on Tuesday night with a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. "Oh you must be happy the Rangers won!" Tara said as I was shutting off the TV.
Not really. I mean I needed the Rangers to beat Tampa about 4 months ago. Sure a win on Opening Night is always nice. Let's call it bittersweet.
Because what I should have been doing was getting ready to watch the Mets take on the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The fact that wasn't happening really was burning me. And probably will for a while.
In the meantime, we've had a couple of developments in these divisional series (of which I have to admit I haven't watched that much of)
1) The Phillies did our fair nation a favor on Saturday afternoon and sent the Braves packing for the winter. I was out to dinner Friday night with Tara and Tim and they had the game on a big screen TV. The Phillies were hitting Brave pitcher Spenser Strider all over Citizen's Bank Ballpark Watching Strider walk off the mound did my heart good. The only down side of all this is it's the Phillies moving on. They're not that much lower on the list of teams I can't stand than the Braves are. Beggars can't be choosers I guess.
2) The Astros and Mariners played a classic on Saturday. 17 innings of scoreless baseball only to have Astro Jeremy Pena hit a solo homer in the top of the 18th to essentially win it. Mike Vaccaro of the Post posed this question to us Mets fans "Would you have rather had the season end for the Mets the way it did, or be out of it by the beginniong of September like in 2021. The answer to that is obvious. But I will say this, I'm not quite sure I would trade places with a Mariners fans right about now. getting one hit last Sunday was awful....how about 18 freakin scoreless innings? Imagine sitting through that shit? I'd be too emotionally exhausted to write.
3) The Yankees managed to stay alive Sunday night thanks to an effective Gerrit Cole. Funny story: on Saturday night I was watching the 9th inning at the Post on one of the TV’s with the sound off. I actually thought there were two outs when Guardians DH Josh Naylor struck out, and I figured the game was over and the Yanks had won. Didn’t realize till I got on the train that Cleveland had one more out to play with and they they won the game in the next at bat. But in any event, Cole earned his $$$ on Sunday night, and the Bombers live to fight for another night, this time at the Stadium.
4) And in the most unbelievable series, the 111 win Dodgers were sent packing by the Padres, who sent us packing last weekend. The Dodgers once again proving once and for all that they are the biggest choke artists in baseball, if not all of professional sports. Their sole World title in this era was “achieved” after the 60 game COVID season in 2020. Otherwise, they have fallen short every time. Since 2013, they have won the NL West every year (save for last year, where they won 106 games and finsished one game behind the Giants) In those 10 seasons, they have lost the World Series twice, lost the NLCS 3 times, and lost the NLDS 4 times. Since 2017, they have won over 100 games 4 times, and again the only WS title was after the COVID season. I know there’s an argument to be made that just getting to the LCS and World Series is an accomplishment, especially since the team I root for has done neither lately.
But there is nothing worse than falling short of expectations. The Mets, Braves and Dodgers did that this year. The Dodgers have done that a lot lately. It’s almost become their M.O.
FOOTBALL: Jets, Giants keep rolling…
They’re doing it to us again folks. They’re setting us up. Putting us on a proverbial tee, getting ready to smack us into the lake again, aren’t they?
The team I watched Sunday afternoon on the soggy tundra of Lambeau Field, was that supposed to be our Jets? I know the numbers Zach Wilson put up weren’t pretty, but he also didn’t throw any picks, nor was he running for his life on every snap. And because the line was doing it’s job, our running backs were able to run for more than a yard or two. And the defense, besides a few dumbass penalties, held the obnoxious Aaron Rodgers in check.
Cheese SauceBut of course I can’t help but feel like they’re setting me up again.
The Giants are the same way. They are 5-1, and just beat a really good Baltimore Ravens team. They can’t possibly be this good can they? Have they finally gotten it right at head coach and GM? I haven’t gotten to see the Giants that much because they have been playing the same time as the Jets, but 5-1 is hard to argue with. I have to say they have both been a pleasant surprise.
And hopefully not a cruel mirage.
Good luck to my Yankee fan friends and family tonight. At least the ones who don’t bust my chops too much.
Everyone else Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
*And according to a few people I know who have met him, he truly is an obnoxious a$$hole.
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