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.
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