Weekly Mail Out West (Part 2)

 

LOS ANGELES-  well, we are on our way home after an unbelievable 5 days.  I’m doubling back to the beginning of our journey. 

I worked Tuesday, went home to grab my bags and say goodbye to Tara and Tim, then met Pete, my All-Island Taxi driver to JFK.

Pete was awesome, got me to the airport is about 35 minutes, right in the heart of rush hour traffic. We had agreed to meet at the airport at 6 PM, but we were already getting updates that there were going to be delays. I walked back an forth between the gate and the security points a couple of times. 

Karl (the Ace) Ludwig and Razor Ray McGarvey my two co-editors were also my travel partners for this journey. They actually did most of the planning, being that they had both been to Cali multiple times. They got to the airport a little before 7. It was still plenty of time.

The plane was supposed to take off at 7:50 PM, we did not take to the air till after 10 PM. We were going to going to be arriving in LA around the same time our families were going to be getting up for work/school. 

The flight was OK. Ray got us seats with plenty of legroom, which was nice. As my habit on long flights, I watched a historical drama. 7 years ago on my way to Italy, I watched Chappaquiddick and The Post. 

MOVIE REVIEW- September 5

This was a dramatic re-telling of how Roone Arledge,  at the time the president of ABC Sports, and his team covered the Palestinian terror group Black September’s taking of 11 Israeli athletes as hostages on September 5, 1972.

The acting in the film was excellent. Peter Saersgaard (whose name I can never spell) played the legendary Arledge. The best acting came from John Magaro, who played Geoff Mason, the head of the control room for ABC. Ben Chaplin was Marvin Bader, the head of operations for ABC Sports. Leonie Benesch played the German interpreter, who was absolutely essential to the story. They were all fantastic.

Here is my issue with the film, and admittedly it’s a tad unfair.

I have read a bunch of books about the Munich Olympics, watched a boatload of documentaries about it, talked to people who were around when it happened. There was a ton of stuff they left out of this. I realize that you only have a certain amount of time to tell a complex story, but there were a couple things I wish they had expounded on. 

I also got the feeling that they made Peter Jennings out to be an arrogant snob. I never got that feeling about him, the accolades he received upon his death were heartfelt. Jennings, prior to his becoming the anchor of ABC World News Tonight, was ABC News chief Middle East correspondent. Arledge offered him the opportunity to come to Munich to do some less intense news stories surrounding the Games, almost like a working vacation for Jennings. Instead, as he would later say, he was as close to the Middle East conflict in Munch as he was when he was reporting from the actual Middle East. 

But they never mentioned that in the film. 

Here’s how I will rate it.. I recommended it to Ray, and he fell asleep 5 minutes into it. I managed to make it all the way through. It somewhere between those two extremes. 

We landed at LAX around 1:30 AM PDT. We got our bags, picked up our rental car, and headed to beautiful downtown Burbank. Even though my body was telling me it was 4 AM, and I hadn’t slept a wink on the plane, I was wide awake driving through the streets of Los Angeles. I was somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, and it was really exciting.

We got a couple hours of sleep, then we headed out for breakfast.

This was the epitome of the greasy spoon. But they made a damn good omelette. 

Then we headed over to Universal City to visit a couple guys Ace works with at NBC. They showed us around the grounds and we got to see some cool stuff. We had to sign an NDA, so I can’t post any pictures. 

We headed to Griffith Park so I could get to see the Hollywood sign. It’s one of things, it’s not super impressive when you see it, but I knew it was something I wanted to see at least once in my life. 

We checked out the Griffith Obersatory while we were there. Pretty cool. It was tough parking there, so we had to do quite a bit of walking. Uphill too. I got plenty of exercise out here. Believe me. 

We went back not the hotel to do what we really couldn’t wait to do: Head  to Chavez Ravine for  that night’s Padres-Dodgers game. 

First we made a stop on Hollywood Boulevard to check out the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Where we parked wasn’t in what you would call the nice part of town. I was taking pictures while keeping my eyes and ears open. My nose was also open which was unfortunate because it smelled nasty there. Really foul, like a subway station. 

But I did get some cool pics..

Penny from Big Bang Theory

Daniel-San

 

We'd hear from this guy later on that night

This was as close to the Regal Beagle as I was going to get

Then it was off to Dodger Stadium. 

Dodger Stadium is huge. TV does not do it justice. It’s also very loud the fans there are really into it. It’s true that the fans leave after the seventh thing there’s no doubt about it but the ones who stay they are allowed and they are passionate.

And they miss the hell of a finish.

The Dodgers were winning 3-1 going into the top of the ninth. The Padres scored twice to tie it up. With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Will Smith, pinch hitting for Enrique Hernandez, drove a pitch deep to left field that went just foul. The very next pitch, he went the other way and this time it went over the right center field fence for a walk off home run. 

Cue Randy Newman..

Now here's the crazy thing... For 8 1/3 innings we were rooting for the Padres. yes, I was wearing a Dodger hat, and a road gray vintage Dodger jersey (Mike Piazza). But jeez after last October, how could I root for those guys? 

But there we were celebrating like we were native So Cals. What can I tell you, the atmosphere, the music, the really nice dude behind us who was over the moon (who we all high-fived) I gotta tell ya, I'm glad we got to see that. 

We’ll have more when we get back.

From Los Angeles 

Wild Bill

Weekly Mail Out West

 

SOLVANG, CA- Coming to you live from California wine country, here is the first of two specials we have coming your way. 

So I’m not really a wine guy. I’ll  occasionally enjoy a nice Malbec, but on the few occasions I do still tie one on, I’m strictly a Bud/Coors Light guy. 

But where we are is spectacular. The hills and mountains are picturesque. This particular town we are in is essentially a replicated Danish town. All the shops are either Danish this or Copenhagen that. Definitely gives off a feel like you are in another country. 

One thing I will say is that it gets cold here at night. We came home from a night of boozing last night and it was freaking 48 degrees. It’s the first day of summer for FFS! It gets hot enough during the day,but shoot that temperature drops at night. I’m not complaining, it is what it is, just not used to it. 

One thing I will complain about is that things close early around here. Ace and I went to a place called The Good Life which served wine and local micro brews. We had come from a Tiki Bar where I had two Coors Lights in a cottle  (half can/half bottle) and I didn’t want to bop back over to wine. So I tried one of the microbrews which wasn’t terrible. But instead of sticking with that one I tried another which Lord forgive me, I couldn’t get past the smell of it. 

I excused myself and went to look for a store where maybe I could get a water to clear my palate. Instead I found Fitzpatricks Pub!

I was saved!

I went in and felt like I was at home. Good music on the speakers, ball game on the tube, beer I recognized in the cooler. I texted Ray and Karl telling them where I was and got ready to settle in for a night of pounding. 

That’s when I heard Sam, the blond, mohawked, kilt wearing Canadian transplant, say to someone on the phone “Yeah well we’re closing at 9 tonight..,”

Exsquese Me???

 When Sam got off the phone, I confirmed what I thought I heard. He assured me that we could stay and drink till he was done cleaning up and cashing out. Don’t get me wrong Sam was a prince, but what Irish bar closes at 9 PM on a Friday night?. I get it, NY is is one of the few places in the world where the bars stay open till 4 AM. Also being this is wine country, people probably do their drinking during the day, so there is no need to be open at all hours.

But I’m sorry, 9PM is too damn early to close a bar named Fitzpatricks. 

Problem was most of the rest of the town was closed as well. It was like the town had a curfew. We managed to find a steakhouse that stayed open till midnight, so we were able to grab dinner. But the rest of the place was a ghost town. 

But other than that, it was a nice little town. And the places we went for the wine tastings were real nice. On Friday, we hit two places..

Andrew Murray Vineyards- This was Ray’s pick. 

In the movie Sideways Paul Giamatti remarked that Andrew Murray knew what he was doing. Ray also read an interview with him and that piqued his interest. 

The grounds were nice, not a ton of great views. But we had a very nice server, Michele. Michele not only knew her wine, she immediately picked up our NY accents and confessed she was an Angels fan. Being that the three of us are Mets fans, we appreciated that second class citizenship feeling she described, 

What I quickly found out is that they serve the wine first, then by the time you are nice and mellow, they serve you the really good shit. The last of the 6 bottles we tasted was amazing, which at $100 a bottle you figured it would be. 

The first couple of wines Michele served, I couldn’t really tell the difference. The third wine she’s described having a cinnamon taste. That I definitely picked up on. Either I was getting better at this, or I just chew a lot of Big Red. 

We had 6 tastings at Andrew Murray. The last of the 6 was the $100 bottle which of course was off the charts. 

But it was time to go to the place I chose. Again, I know squat about wine, but I do know my 1960’s television/movie actors. 

Fess Parker Winery and Vineyards

I remember several years back, watching a Daniel Boone marathon with my dad on the Starz Western Channel. The star of the show was Fess Parker, who also had starred, (probably more famously) as Davy Crockett in the 1961 Walt Disney movie. 

According to Wikipedia, ol’ Fess retired from Hollywood and decided to take up wine making. 

Now, Andrew Murray’s place was nice, but the scenery at Fess Parker’s place was amazing..

Our server at Fess Parker,  Cyana looked like she could be on TV. She also acted as if she had somewhere else to be. She’d pour a taste of wine, gives you the 2 cent explanation, and head off. There was another server there, who was so much more into her job than Cyana was, on the way out I actually thanked the other server because she was so much more enthusiastic about the wine. 

That said, the wine itself was very good, And again, we were surrounded by the hills of Los Olivos. 

Before we left, I took a couple of pictures inside of Fess as Davey Crockett..

Fess Parker with Walt Disney-1961

But it was Ray, who had no idea who Fess Parker was and had no idea that there was a show about Daniel Boone, found the Fess Parker wall of fame, which was outside the main lobby. 

He took better photos of that than I did, but here are a few I took….

I was glad we got to see that. 

After we left Fess’s place, we headed to Los Olivios for a late lunch. Most of you had probably finished dinner before we had lunch, but we are not only on California time out here, we are also on college hangover time out here. Breakfast at 11, lunch at 3:30 and dinner at 10:30 PM. Here’s a term we haven’t used in about 30 years. Living like a Rock Star. 

After lunch, we headed back here to Solvang. Ace and I headed to the aforementioned Tiki Bar which had a TV playing clips from old tv/movies with weird music. If it weren’t for the Coors Light in the cottles, it might have weirded me out.

The TV at the Tiki Bar was playing some weird shit. Didn't realize they captured Ace and I commentary while I was filming LOL 

From there Ace and I met Ray at the microbrew place, followed by the only Irish bar in the world that closes before your late local news. 

We hit a third winery on Saturday afternoon…

Sanford Winery- We kind of stumbled upon this one. Andrew Murray and Fess Parker were featured or mentioned in the film Sideways, but this one we kind of drove past and decided to give it a shot. 

Our server was a dude named Johnny, who was very good server and knew his stuff. I didn’t get the feeling that he has ever been outside of California that much. 

The scenery at Sanford was even more spectacular than Fess Parker’s place. 

Ace and Razor enjoyed the wine, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Plus, I was getting reports from Tara and Tim that it was hot in NY, but it was very windy at Sanford’s, and if you were in the shade it was downright chilly. The highlight of Sanford’s for me, was playing with the Alaskan Husky they had there, Copper. 

Me and my friend Copper

We hit In and Out Burger for lunch because, well I’m in California and that’s something you can only do in California. I’m hoping to hit Jack in the Box before I head back east. 

I’m now watching the Fox Game of the Week between the Mets and the Phillies. It’s 5:40 in the afternoon. The other night, we watched some of the Pacers-Thunder Game 6. That was really weird, that started at 5:30 PM out here. The time difference is both very cool and slightly discombobulating. 

We will try to have another dispatch sometime tomorrow detailing the early part of this trip from Los Angeles. 

Take Care Everybody

From California

Wild Bill 

Weekly Mail June 8, 2025

 Hey:

Tim told me that a couple of friends of his was going to the 2025 Governor's Ball at Flushing Meadows park this weekend. He was saying he was sorry he didn't get to go with them. 

Riding the train into the city on Saturday, I was kind of glad he didn't go either.

A bunch of young ladies got on the train at Jamaica. The way they were dressed? Well, let's put it this way, they didn't leave much to the imagination. 

They all got off at Woodside instead of taking the train all the way into the city, which I gathered meant they were either heading up to get the 7 train, or there was an LIRR heading to Willets Point. 

I know I'm getting old. I know I'm closer to the age that people become grandparents rather than parents for the first time. But there were at least 30 girl's on the train on Saturday who looked like they had gotten a memo that clothes were optional at this governor's ball. And before you start calling me a perv, let me tell you, you didn't have to look very hard to notice this. 

I'm a live and let live kind of guy, I really am. But I found myself saying to myself "I wouldn't let these girls out of my house dressed like that." I felt like the time on Seinfeld when Jerry was complaining about his neighbors being too loud and he asked himself "When did I turn into Fred Mertz?" 

But it was worse coming home.

First of all, I missed my train. I got on the elevator with some older ladies who were walking with canes. I politely asked if I could get off the elevator first because my train was leaving in two minutes. Either they couldn't hear me or they ignored me because they went out first. My choice was either to turn into Jerome Bettis or wait till there was room to get past them. Since I'm not a total asshole (yet), I waited and by the time I got downstairs my train was halfway out the station.

So I sat in Grand Central Madison stewing. The next train pulled in and it started to fill with Yankee fans coming back from the Yanks-Bosox game at the Stadium. The fairly packed train pulled into Woodside which looked like Times Square on New Year's Eve except that those same scantily clad girls who I saw getting off the train at Woodside earlier in the afternoon were getting back on the train, and now many of them were still pouring out of their clothes and were now three sheets to the wind to boot. 

To make matters worse, we had to switch at Jamaica. So I got to spend 15 minutes on the platform with all of them.

So that was my Saturday. At least I don't have to worry about any of my teams getting knocked out of the playoffs this weekend.

A team of mine who did get KO'ed made news this week. That is where we will start. 

BASKETBALL: Knicks sent Thibs packing. 

ESPN beat Tim by 3 minutes 

I was still licking my wounds from the Knicks getting bounced from the NBA playoffs the previous Saturday night when Tim texted me this news on Tuesday. 

Nothing should surprise me anymore, especially on a team that's owned by a slug like James Dolan, but I really didn't think Tom Thibodeau would take the fall for the Knicks not advancing to the NBA Finals. 

To be fair, there were things that Thibs could have done better. The Knicks too often played defense as it was an option, not an obligation. And there was the seemingly perpetual debate as to whether or not he should have done a better job utilizing his bench, lest his guys run out of gas during the playoffs. 

Those are legit beefs.

But I kind of felt myself going back to the early 90's NY Mets as I considered Thibs fate.

When the Mets dealt away Tom Seaver in 1977, it marked the first of 7 straight seasons of utter ineptitude. They lost 90 games in 6 of the next 7 seasons, and the only reason it wasn't 7 for 7 was due to the 1981 strike. 

Then came Davey Johnson. 

Yes, they traded for Keith Hernandez and drafted Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, but it was Davey that got the team back into contention. They went from 90 game losers to at least 90 game winners, with a pair of 100 win seasons in 1986 and 1988 respectively. 

They went 87-75 in 1989 and rumours were flying that Davey was on his way out the door. As it was, he wasn't really getting along with GM Frank Cashen, and the team's choke job in the 1988 NLCS was still fresh on all of our minds. 

Still, I felt at the time that Davey deserved a chance to fail. 87 wins, while below expectations wasn't awful, it was good enough for 2nd place and the Cubs didn't really run away with the division that year. 

But 42 games into 1990, with their record at 20-22, Cashen gave Davey his pink slip and gave the job to poor Buddy Harrelson. I felt the same way that day I would feel 35 years later when Tim sent me that text.

Why not give Thibs the chance to fail? 

The 7 years between the Seaver trade and the Davey Johnson hiring was a pit stop compared to the quarter century of ineptitude Knick fans endured between Jeff Van Gundy skipping town and Thibs hiring. The parallels  aren't perfect. Thibs second season in NY was a backstep, but in his third, fourth and fifth seasons, the team improved each year. 

And it wasn't until a few years later that I realized that the Mets were mostly tuning Davey Johnson out by 1990. Hernandez, Gary Carter and Wally Backman, three guys who Davey leaned on for leadership were gone, as were Mookie Wilson, Lenny Dyskstra and Ray Knight. A new voice was probably in order, maybe not Buddy Harrelson's (as much as we all love Buddy) but in my defense, I had only known winning baseball with Davey. It would be another 7 seasons, when Bobby Valentine* came to town that the Mets started contending again. 

Does the same fate await the Knicks? Well, for Leon Rose's sake I certainly hope not. If this was his call (and in the World of Dolan, we never get a straight answer on this one) then his a$$ is most definitely on the line now. As my co-edior Razor Ray pointed out, it was Rose who constructed this roster, so some of the blame for their not getting past Indiana should fall at his feet too, no? 

But like Thibs, I think Rose has earned the benefit of the doubt. He was able to sign Jalen Brunson and Isiah Hartenstein, and trade for Josh Hart and OG Anunoby. The team is markedly better than it was when he first got here. So I got no problem with him staying on board.

But there are three things he owns here: 1) he needs Karl Anthony Towns to become the franchise player, even more so than Jalen Brunson, that trade put the bullseye square on his backside. 2) He has to hope that Mikhail Bridges turns out to be better than he was this year and/or that none of those picks he dealt to the Nets to obtain Bridges ends up with a plaque in Springfield, or even on an all-star team. And now 3) the guy he hires to replace Thibs better bring the Knicks to the promised land. Otherwise, Rose goes out the door next. 

CAPTAIN ORANGE VS, ELON MUSK

For everybody out there who is saying "Now the libs are in love with Elon again!" Well, as usual you are wrong. 

Most of us still realize Musk is a piece of shit, another lowlife who got rich off the sweat and hard work of other people. Most of us realize that good people lost their livelihoods because of him. We also realize that he bought the election for CFCO, which is how CFCO was able to weasel out being tried for inciting an insurrection, stealing government documents and One would think that CFCO would be eternally grateful for all that, and maybe cut Elon some slack. 

Ha ha! Yeah, I can't believe I wrote that last line either.

Elon has outlived his usefulness to the captain, so like so many before him, he's been cast aside. Trump can't just let someone sail off into the sunset, it's not in his DNA. It's why he keeps going back and woofing on Joe Biden. That always gets his minions fired up, and it covers up all the fuckups in his administration so far. Plus it makes him feel like a tough guy, when he is the biggest wuss going. 

There is no way to root here. The Big Beautiful bill or whatever the hell its called is going to cut services for food banks and healthcare and education and so many other essential services. Musk wants to cut more. Neither one of these assholes gives one shit about anyone but themselves. If you can't see that, I don't know what to tell you. 

Yeah, it makes for funny news copy (both the Post and the Daily News had fun with their Friday headlines (or woods, as we call it in the biz) and in some ways it goes to show what shallow thin skinned phonies they both are, but it's also our future and our country that is being kicked around like a soccer ball. And when all is said and done, we are the ones getting screwed. 

*********************************************************************

I'm hoping to have a couple of specials at the end of the month. I can't promise anything, but that's the goal. I promise they'll be no politics (or very little) 

Sorry for the delay

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Night 

Weekly Mail June 1, 2025

 Hi Everyone:

Timmy's Get Well Card-June 2, 2015

So tonight marks 10 years since I had my big health scare, part of which resulted in my bringing back Weekly Mail. I won't get into the how's and what's, most of you already know, and if you don't, you can read about it here.

During my recovery, I got some counseling and the doctor recommended I do something in my free time that I would enjoy. I had enjoyed writing and e-mailing a letter about things I was doing mixed with opinions on sports, politics and entertainment. Hence, Weekly Mail made a comeback in blogpost form. 

When I was writing this back in the late 90's early 00's, some of the political rants rankled some feathers. 25 years later, I'm on the other side of the aisle and still rankling feathers. I've said this before, it's a battle between wanting people to enjoy reading what I write vs. stating my opinion no matter who gets offended since after all, it seems like every one else is saying what's on their mind. 

I've tried to balance it out, but when you have a president you clearly have no use for, it becomes harder to just let it slide. This week, our clue-er-fearless leader did a couple things I wanted to discuss so that's where we will lead off.

POLITICS- Pardon Problems

I'm not terribly familiar with Todd and Julie Chrisley, their TV show, or how the two of them ended up in the slammer. From what I gathered, they fancied themselves real-estate experts who made millions making sound investments. They parlayed this "success" into a long running reality series. 

According to the NY Times....

The Chrisleys soared to fame about a decade ago in the USA Network hit “Chrisley Knows Best” as self-made, God-fearing real estate moguls who lived in a 30,000-square-foot mansion outside Atlanta. But according to prosecutors, their empire was “based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work” and they were “career swindlers who have made a living by jumping from one fraud scheme to another, lying to banks, stiffing vendors and evading taxes at every corner.”

So let me see if I got this straight, the Chrisley's were a couple who had their own reality show that seemed to make them more successful and smart than they actually were? 

Where did I see that done before? 

I mean, I almost can't blame Convicted Felon Captain Orange for pardoning those two. Talk about a chip off the old block. Except CFCO parlayed his fake success all the way to a couple of stints in the Oval Office. The Chrisley's should have tossed their hats into the ring as Republican Senators or something. They may have avoided the clink altogether. 

I probably should be more upset about this than I am. Of course I don't think they should have been pardoned, think of how many people who needed a loan for legitimate purposes couldn't get one while these crooks got several under false pretenses.  But when you elect a criminal for president, you get things like this. Swim in the sewer, (like RFK Jr. did a few weeks ago) the stink sticks to you. 

I'm more concerned about the reports the CFCO is considering pardoning two of the creeps who conspired to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and also if he gets convicted, Sean Diddy Combs. 

Think about that for a second..no matter what side you're on. These two guys were plotting to kidnap the sitting governor of a state, and to do lord knows what to her if they ever succeeded. How does anybody reconcile that? I guess if you can reconcile thousands of people getting pardoned for looking to kill the Vice President and the Speaker of the House, you can reconcile a mere governor. It's a sick fucking world we live in if this is somehow considered acceptable. Far too many people I know think it is. 

As for Diddy, I mean, I haven't bore in on this trial the way I did, let's say, the OJ trial 30 years ago, but the little I have seen makes me think he needs to be locked away with the key properly disposed of. There is literally video of him beating the shit out of Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway as she is trying to flee from him. Only someone who himself was found liable for assaulting a woman would consider pardoning someone who is on video assaulting a woman. Most of us mere mortals would find that reprehensible.

Right? 

Then, after I praised the lump of shit for expressing concern over President Biden's cancer diagnosis, he told reporters on Friday, "if you feel sorry for him, don't feel so sorry because he is vicious"

It don't matter to me. I didn't vote for him. If you did, well that's what you got. A guy who makes fun of people with cancer. 

Nice job everyone.  

Enough of that, we got other problems to discuss..

RIP The Knicks:

The Knicks folded like a cheap suit in the second half of Saturday night's game in Indiana. Just an embarrassment to go into an elimination game and get your doors blown off, especially when you actually only down a few points at the half. It was almost like they figured, "Hey nobody was expecting us to come here and win."  I'll never figure out why teams do that, but they do. 

But to me, Saturday was not where they lost this series.

They lost this series in Game One. They lost this series when they choked away a 17 point lead. 

They hold on in that game, then I believe they win the series, they may have even won it in 5, more likely, it would have gone the full 7 and they would have won it at home. 

That Game 1 loss was f-cking inexcusable. To lose like that? At home nonetheless?  

I told you last week on these pages that I had a bad feeling about that game. I told you that felt like it would come back to haunt them. 

And it did. Unbelievable. 

Was the season a total failure? 

No. The series win against the Celtics was huge. They moved one step forward this year. They made it to the Conference Finals. Most of us had them bowing out in round two. They never gave up in that series.

Which is why it's so baffling as to why they threw in the towel in this one. 

The Pacers are a good team, they are not that much better than the Knicks. They weren't 20 points better than the Knicks were which is what the final score would have been save for that wing and a prayer they got at the end. They completely fell apart in the second half. And it really begs the question.. Can this team ever get over the hump, or is this as good as it’s going to get?

Well, now we got the whole summer to think about it. 

OBITUARIES 

Loretta Swit- (1937-2025)

We always hear about the drawbacks to social media, the proceeding section of this blogpost highlights some of these downsides. I mean some of the ways folks are going to defend the things I just wrote about would be enough to make you quit FB/X/IG forever to maintain what's left of your sanity. 

But to me the good far outweighs the bad. The people I had lost touch with that I was able to happliy re-connect with largely outnumber the people I wish I had just left lie in the past. Not to mention seeing pictures of old time people and places. 

Another cool thing is that I have been able to touch base with some celebrities who I have admired. 

Max Gail (Wojo from Barney Miller) is one of those people. He has a friend of his named Sue, who runs his Facebook page. He occasionly shoots a video and puts it on his page, reminding us fans that Sue works with him, and that she handles any requests for autographs, and also makes sure he reads the overwhelmingly positive messages that are sent, while she makes sure any garbage is disposed of, so to speak. You can send Max messages about your favorite episodes of Barney Miller and any other shows he was on, and you can be asssured that Sue will make sure he sees it and acknowledges it. It's really cool.

Loretta Swit was another.

I can't be 100% sure about this, but I do believe that Ms. Swit answered anything posted to her fan page personally, and with an amazing amount of grace and humility for someone who played one of the most iconic roles in television history. Just last week, a few days before her sudden passing, she posted a tribute to all the men and women we lost defending our country for Memorial Day. Many people responded with stories of family members that gave their lives for our country, and she took the time to respond to many of them. Again I could be wrong, but I really believe these were her personal messages of gratitude.

I had also seen her respond to folks who told her how much of a fan they were. I wrote on one of her posts and she thanked me. It wasn't anything long or drawn out, just a simple "Thank you for your kind words." 5 seconds and she had a new lifetime fan. 

The other thing she did on her page that always brought a smile to my face was when she promoted the M*A*S*H fan shows and conventions that she did with her fellow castmates Jamie Farr and Jeff Maxwell. Farr of course played Corporal Max Klinger, and Maxwell played Igor the cook.  

In other words perhaps two of the characters Maj Margaret Houlihan gave the hardest time to, those actors ended up forming a bond with her that was heartwarming. Every post she spoke about not only meeting and greeting her fans, but getting to do so with two men she cared for deeply and whose company she enjoyed immensely. 

The character she played on M*A*S*H was complicated. She was as by the book with army regulations, but carried on affairs, most notably with Frank Burns. She loathed Hawkeye and Trapper, but admitted they were brilliant doctors. She could be cold as ice one minute and extremely vulnerable the next. She was Emmy nominated 10 times for best supporting actress, winning twice. The amazing thing isn't the 10 nominations (the show ran 11 years) but you feel like she should have won more. 

I still watch M*A*S*H re-runs on MeTV many nights. I have adopted Trish Ludwig's "No M*A*S*H after BJ grows the mustache" rule, but even some of those episodes I still watch. I get a kick seeing Margret Houlihan berate someone, knowing the actress playing her would do just the opposite is one of the things that make me smile. 

She lived to be 87, but it still seems like her loss came too soon. RIP.  And thank you. 

One more obit for you and only because this kind of blew my mind....

Harrison Ruffin Tyler (1928-2025)

This is from NPR.com....

Harrison Ruffin Tyler died Sunday at 96, according to Annique Dunning, executive director of Sherwood Forest, the Virginia property that members of the Tyler family have called home since the end of its patriarch's presidency. Tyler had suffered strokes in recent years and died of natural causes, she said.

Tyler led a successful career as a chemical engineer before turning his attention — and newfound wealth — to preserving historical sites.

I'm not much interested in the fact that Tyler lived to be 96, though more power to him for doing so. Also not much interested that he was a chemical engineer, that don't impress me much.* I think it's cool that he helped preserve historical sites, in this day and age, that's more important than ever.

No, what impresses me about Harrison R. Tyler is that his grandfather was the President of the United States. 

The 10th President of the United States. (Captain Orange is the 47th) Who left office 180 years ago. 

Harrison Tyler's grandfather was President John Tyler. 

How the hell is that even possible? All right, here goes.

President Tyler's first wife died of the stroke in 1842, while he was in office.  He had 8 kids with her. He married a woman 30 years his junior in 1844 and sired 7 more kids before he died in 1862. 

One of the children he had with his second wife was born in 1853, when his dad was 63. This child Lyon G. Tyler, like his father before him, married a much younger woman, and they had Harrison in 1928, when Lyon was 75!  That's Mick Jagger, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro type shit there. 

Harrison Tyler had 3 children and eight grandchildren, and unlike his dad and grandad, had his kids at an age when most of us decide to have them. He told tv station WTVR that 'We're not going down that route again." 

He used the money he made as a chemical engineer to restore Sherwood Forest, the land President Tyler had owned after he left the White House. The property had been over run by Union soldiers in the Civil War. Harrison and his family began recovering it and restoring it in the 70's and 80's (um the 1970's and 1980's). They have turned it into both their residence and a museum in honor of the Tyler family. Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves, granddaughter to FDR is now the oldest living grandchild of a former US President. She is 98 and living in Maryland. 

CHILDREN'S TELEVISION- A new addition to the Pigs

I forgot to write about this last week, but on my Facebook feed there was some news out of Nickelodeon Jr. 

Peppa Pig, the British cartoon that airs here on Nick Jr., and also apparently caused a whole generation of American kids housebound during COVID to pick up British phrases, became an older sister once again. 

Mummy, Daddy, Peppa and George welcomed Evie Pig to the family last week. 

Everyone seems happy about this development, but I do worry about George, who is now at risk for a bad case of middle child syndrome. When George has one of his temper tantrums, he cries enough tears to water the pitch at Old Trafford.**. Now, it's going to seem like nobody is paying attention to him. 

Few things made me crack up more than watching Timmy and my niece Becky watching Peppa Pig at my parents house back in the day. "Doesn't the snorting drive you guys crazy?" My sister Kate would ask. 

The snorting didn't bother me as much as Tim and our neighbors in Oceanside turning puddle jumping into an Olympic sport. 

Wikipedia describes Daddy Pig as showing signs of illiteracy and having issues reading maps." It goes on to say he is a structural engineer and a concrete technician. Great! A structural engineer who can't read or decipher maps. And I thought we had problems on this side of the pond. 

In any event, Cheers to the Pigs! 

That’s all folks

Stay Safe,

and Have a Great Week

*Just kidding Ray. 

**I was going to say the outfield grass at Yankee Stadium, but being that the story takes place in England, I thought that reference more appropriate.