Hi Folks!
We've made it to the unofficial start of the summer. Crazy how it just seems to sneak up on you isn't it?
I hope all of you are able to enjoy some of this long weekend.
CIVIC DUTY: I got called for jury duty this past week.
The last time I was called was right after Tim was born, almost 17 years ago. I was still living in Manhattan, so it was Manhattan criminal court I went to that time. I had not been called for Nassau County court since I moved to Long Island.
And when I filled out that questionnaire they send you, I figured I was off to either Mineola or Hempstead.
Nope.
I got to schlep into Downtown Brooklyn for the eastern district Federal Court. I guess they figured since they left me alone the past 16.5 years, they have me go with the big shots.
I obviously can't get into what cases were going on when I was there, but I figured you'd all get a chuckle out of this story: They were pretty clear that the first thing they were going to do when you walked into the courthouse was take your phone away. They make you shut it off and they give you a wooden block with a number on it. When you are done for the day, you turn in the block and they give you back your phone.
So that was easy enough, but then you have to go through the metal detectors. They made me take off ,my belt in addition to putting my keys and whatever else metal in the little bin. I walked through the metal detector no problem, but I could feel my pants starting to sink, so I grabbed my belt and went for the closest bathroom to pull myself together.
I then checked in and sat in the jury waiting room. They called a group to go to a courtroom, then I was in the second group.
Sometime during my walk to the courtroom I realized I didn't have the block for my phone. DOH!
When we broke for lunch, I went down to the security desk and told them I lost my block. Tbey all looked at me like I was crazy. Then they sent me back to the pool room, for surely I had dropped it up there. I spoke to one of the ladies who helped check in jurors, and she was kind enough to come down to the security desk and get the guards to help me. One of the guards remembered that another court officer had brought over a block and "some change" I said "Was it three quarters?" I had gotten 75 cents back from the egg on a roll I had bought. That was enough for the court officer to match the block with my phone. To prove it was mine, I showed him the Running for Rebecca team picture and my wristband.
I had been so worried about giving the Eastern District of the US Federal Court system a strip show they didn't want, that I ran away with my belt and left the block and my $0.75 in the bin.
Embarrassing. The court officer who gave me back my phone said it happens all the time in a tone that suggested that it really doesn't.
But I do have to say, everyone there was very nice and pleasant. For one day, it was a nice trip to downtown Brooklyn. I'm still on phone standby, but most likely. my civic duty of over for now.
On my way back to Oceanside, I went outside on Atlantic Avenue and took some pictures of the Barclay's Center. I've yet to see an event there, and the last time I was in that part of Brooklyn, I was just a kid.
Barclays Center May 19, 2025
POLITICS: Joe Biden Cancer Announcement
I'll keep this one relatively short.
If Joe Biden says he was just recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, I believe he was just recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. All I'm going to do is wish him comfort and a speedy recovery, which even the likes of Captain Orange and dare I say it, that thing representing Georgia's 14th Congressional District took to social media to do this week.
I'll leave the speculating that he covered this diagnosis up to the tin foil hat wearing dopes who still think Biden lost in 2020.
And if you took delight in the fact that a politician you don't like received a cancer diagnosis last week, congratulations, you're an a$$hole.
BASKETBALL: Knicks lose two at home...
Sure I was pissed off at Tyrese Haliburton for making the choke sign after he hit (what he thought) was the game winning shot against the Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night at MSG.
But even though he had to eat some crow, since his toe was on the line and the shot only counted as a two, he wasn't totally wrong. The Knicks did blow a huge lead, mainly by committing turnovers and missing foul shots, as well as playing lousy defense. yes, yes, I will give the Pacers props for their three point shooting, but make no mistake, the Knicks could have and should have won Game 1. That was as big a choke job as you are going to see.
They also could have won Game 2 on Friday night. That loss at least was more of a loss of a war of attrition than anything else. The Knicks never were able to pull away and neither were the Pacers.
Tim (amongst others) brought up that the man who originally made the choke sign against the Knicks, Reggie Miller, did so in a series the Knicks eventually won, in 1994. But watching this Game 1 reminded me more of Game 1 of the second round of the 1995 playoffs.
That was on a Sunday afternoon. For some reason, only my Mom and I were at home that afternoon. And I was getting ready to leave to go to work in Rockaway that evening. That was the day Miller scored 8 points in 9 seconds.
Just because I'm a glutton for punishment and I needed a refresher course, I YouTube'd up that game from 30 (holy shit) years ago. With 18.7 seconds left, Greg Anthony hit a pair of free throws to put the Knicks up by 6. The Pacers inbounded the ball at half court, got the ball to Miller who spun and hit a three to cut the lead in half. Anthony Mason had all sorts of trouble inbounding underneath the basket, passed it right to Miller who drained another three to tie in up whilst only taking 5.5 seconds off the clock. The Pacers then inexplicably fouled John Starks, who picking up where he left off the previous year's Finals in Houston, missed two foul shots. Patrick Ewing, in a harbinger of things to come, grabbed the rebound and was unable to put it back. Miller was fouled underneath the basket on the Ewing miss and was able to hit the two subsequent foul shots. And the Knicks were unable to get a last shot off.
I remember I got up and slammed the TV off (our TV was pre-remote control in 1995) and stormed out the house to head to Rockaway. My mom was on the phone with a friend of hers who reported that her husband had just done the same thing to their TV.
I know the Knicks won three games in that series and had a chance to win Game 7. That day I actually listened to most of the game on the drive down to Rockaway, and watched at Rogers Irish House as Ewing missed that infamous finger roll to lose Game 7. That was another long night at Baskin-Robbins for me.
And that's what these first two games have felt like.
Reggie Miller is now calling this series for TNT. Many opf the Knicks who played in that series are in the stands rooting these Knicks on. Pretty much all of the guys playing in this series weren't even born yet in 1995 which of course makes me feel even older than I already do. One series has nothing to do with the other,
But for those of us who were around, it feels really eerie. I'm hoping upon hope that the Knicks can figure it out, or else I'm going to be writing about this series when I'm 82 years old.
George Wendt (1948-2025)
I've heard the term spirit animal bandied about the last few years.
I don't know if I would call Norm Petersen my spirit animal. But I still get a kick out of walking into Donovan's and hearing “Wild Bill!” as I'm heading over to Pete McGuiness's corner. I miss hearing that as I walked into Shelley's, or “Billy G!” when I used to go to Big City Bar and Grill back in the day. More recently, I like to hit the Pig n Whistle on 48th Street on my way to the Post. As Karl (the Ace) Ludwig told his wife Trish a couple of weeks ago when the regular Saturday bartender was off, "If Natalia (the bartender) was here, Bill would already have his beer." I was there for about 15 seconds at that point.*
George Wendt was a lot more than Norm, the epitome of the bar regular. His acting career spanned movies, TV shows and Broadway. When I visited Ireland/England in 1998, Wendt was starring in a London production called Art, the posters were all over the London underground.
But no doubt he will be most remembered as Cheers most famous patron.
His lines upon making his entrance are some of the funniest in TV history. I was watching a bunch of clips the other day as news of his passing was coming out.
Coach: What's shaking Norm?
Norm: All four cheeks and a couple of chins, Coach
Woody: Would you like a beer Mr. Petersen?
Norm: It's too early Woody.
Woody: For beer?
Norm: No, for stupid questions
Coach: How's life treating you Norm?
Norm: Like it caught me in bed with its wife.
Woody: What's going on Mr. Petersen?
Norm: Let's talk about what's going in Mr. Petersen.
This is my favorite opening to Cheers, from it's last season. It's mostly Cliff here, but Norm's part makes it a classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jg0l4zECjw
RIP
SOME RECORDS WEREN'T MADE TO BE BROKEN
Cy Young's 511 come to mind.
Wilt Chamberlain's 50 ppg average in 1962 is probably safe.
Wayne Gretzky's career assists records also not going anywhere.
And then there was Only Fans star Annie Knight, who last Sunday did the wild thing with 583 men in her native Australia.
According to the Post (via news.au)
“I decided to book out a venue and basically open a registration and anyone who registers gets invited. I got about 2,000 registrations, sent them all the address and gave them a timeslot,” she said.
She revealed she engaged in sex acts with 583 people over six hours. No one was turned away, a requirement was that essentially every act required protection. There were even people employed to be in the room specifically to check that protection was being worn.
I'll ask the same question I asked when I wrote about all the dudes who lined up to get it on with Bonnie Blue, "Why would you want to go where 582 guys have just gone before?
But more importantly, why if your were Annie Knight, want to put your body at risk like that? For her toubles she ended up in the hospital. She told news.au:
“Nurses were concerned I’d ruptured something or had caused damage to my body, so they did a bunch of scans and tests, and thankfully almost everything came back normal,” she said.
“Tests did show I have low iron and progesterone, and eventually concluded that it was my elevated stress levels that exacerbated my endometriosis.
“I was sent home and told to rest and try not to stress.”
Some people have sex to relieve stress. But 583 guys will stress anyone out.
I'm not sure if she was trying to set a record, I mean is there an Elias Sports Bureau type organization that tracks marathon sex sessions?
Like I said, some records should stay how they are.
Finally on this Memorial Day weekend, it's great to relax, have a BBQ, or if the weather holds up, go out and enjoy a day at the beach or park. But as we all know, it's also about remembering those who gave their lives for our freedom..
Please take care
Stay Safe,
and Have a Great Week
*it was maybe 2 or 3 minutes, but still.
No comments:
Post a Comment