Quotes for Today

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

"There is much discussion of the haves and have-nots, but very little discussion of the doers and the do-nots, those that contribute and those who merely take." - Thomas Sowell

"If you end up with a boring miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on the television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it." - Frank Zappa

"All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger." - James Clear

"Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy." - Frank Sinatra

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

While married to Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner had an affair with director John Farrow whose daughter Mia would later marry Frank Sinatra. Did you follow that?... Heh heh... Would be really curious to see a poll of who is more unpopular - Kamala Harris or Ghislaine Maxwell... My favorite campaign slogan of all-time was Ronald Reagan's "Elect me and let's forget the Carter Presidency ever existed"...  Heh Heh... There's a pretty good chance that the Falcons' Matt Ryan will finish his career with more passing yards than Dolphins legend Dan Marino. Ryan currently has 55,767 while Marino sits at 61,361. My how the game has changed... 

Classic - Don Knotts as Frank Sinatra

Classic - Don Knotts as Frank Sinatra

Happy New Year's Eve and tonight feel free to party like Frank Sinatra Don Knotts.

My Way - Breaking Bad Style

Another fun Friday afternoon video.

Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra on How to Make a Burger

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- I agree - Clay Matthews should be in the football Hall of Fame

- 5 elements of effective thinking

- It always bugged me that Greenland looked twice the size of Australia on those globes we had growing up

- Frank Sinatra Has a Cold - one of the great examples of magazine writing ever.

- The only thing that makes me skeptical about this is the fact there was a video camera ready to capture the moment

- ESPN lost 2 million subscribers in 2018

- In case anyone was wondering what I'd like for Christmas - one of these would do very nicely

Flotsam and Jetsam - World Series Edition

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations from last night's epic 18-inning World Series game.

I admit that I only watched last night's marathon World Series game up to the 14th inning. The reason I quit then is because I cut the cord with cable 6-years ago and the bar I was watching the game had to close at 2:00 am... If you want a reason to root against the Dodgers - here's how much they gouge you for beer... Random thought - neither Frank Sinatra nor Humphrey Bogart (both big baseball fans) would ever, ever wear a fucking rally cap... Random observation - there seemed to be a lot more hair product in the Dodgers dugout last night than in the Red Sox dugout (not that there's anything wrong with that)... If you want a reason to root for the Red Sox - here's the type of players they have on that team... If I were Governor Baker of Massachusetts I would have sent out an emergency alert last night about 1:00 am saying the law requiring bars close at 2:00 am in Mass has been lifted and that there is no last call as long as the game was still going. That would have guaranteed re-election (he's getting re-elected anyway).... I enjoy baseball but I still laughed at this...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Sure call me a misogynist but I still say the push-up bra might be the best thing since sliced bread... And speaking of misogyny - free the nipple!...  For the record - I did not order the code red! You're goddamn right I didn't!... I guess you could say this was true... Who knew? Van Morrison's Brown-Eyed Girl was originally written as "Brown-Skinned Girl"...  Just saying but did anyone ever see Frank Sinatra and DB Cooper in the same room? Coincidence? You decide... How can you not love Dolly Parton?...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Good recap of the defensive scheme the Celtics used to dismantle the Cavs yesterday.  Look for Cleveland to try to make adjustments to their offense to counter. Also look for Brad Stevens to be ready for it.

- Frank Sinatra died 20-years ago today. That's meaningful for some but many don't even know who Sinatra was at this point. In 20 more years he'll be all but forgotten. 100-years ago Al Jolson was the most famous person in America and called "the world's greatest entertainer". How many people do you think remember Jolson today? Carpe diem!

- Got to admit Trump is winning me over.

- EU statement opposing US Embassy move to Jerusalem blocked by "New Europe" coalition. The US Embassy is opening today.

- 10 US commercial drone services given green light

- RIP coach Chuck Knox

- Heh Heh

Jackie Gleason - The Great One

Today would have been Jackie Gleason's 101st birthday. In his honor is a little something I wrote in 2005.

Long before Gretzky was tabbed as "the great one" - Jackie Gleason had lived up to that nickname and more. I never realized how much booze played a role in his life though.

Excellent essay on Gleason and booze - here's a small snippet:

With some time off before his first season as CBS’s golden boy, Jackie camped out at Toots Shor’s with Sinatra and his celebrity pals. One evening Frank showed up during Jackie’s morning eye-opener with four tickets to the sold-out final playoff game between the NY Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers. J. Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, was having a tête-à-tête with Toots and Frank invited the trio to accompany him to the game. Everyone agreed except Jackie, who wanted to stay at the bar and drink. They finally talked him into it by renting a fully stocked limo. Sinatra recalls:

“We pile into that limousine, already feeling no pain, especially Gleason. Jackie guzzled booze all the way to the Polo Grounds and ate most of the food. When we get there Jackie switches to hot dogs and beer. Comes the last half of the ninth and the fans are going wild. The Giants are behind 4-2 and Bobby Thompson comes to bat.

“Right at the exact moment, with the crowd screaming, Gleason throws up right on me. Here is one of the all-time classic games that people will talk about and I am right in the stadium and I don’t see Bobby Thompson hit that home run. Only Gleason, a Brooklyn fan, would get sick at a time like that. But that’s not the punch line.

“On the drive back to Toots, Gleason keeps muttering to the chauffeur to pull over to the side of the road saying, “Let’s throw this bum Sinatra out of here. He’s smelling up the limo.”

Can you picture anyone else being able to treat Sinatra like that?

Top 5 Songs with the Word "Under" in The Title

Top 5 songs with the word "under" in the title.

1. I've Got You Under My Skin - Frank Sinatra
2. Under My Thumb - Rolling Stones
3. Under My Wheels - Alice Cooper
4. Under Pressure - David Bowie and Queen
5. (tie) Under the Milky Way - The Church (tie) Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Didn't mean it this way but I think these songs are also ranked in the order they were released to the world.

EDIT: Donald rightly points out that Under the Boardwalk should be on the list. I 100% agree and would probably put it fourth and bump Under the Milky Way and Under the Bridge off the list. Under My Wheels stays at three because it's one of my Karaoke go to songs.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Former White Sox player now US Ambassador to New Zealand

- This Frank Sinatra letter is so Sinatra

- I would have to agree with Jeff Passan's Hall of Fame ballot

- Santa Claus as a shroom-tripping shaman?

- Good point

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Justified returns on Tuesday night - the show reflects on the loss of Elmore Leonard

- Frank Sinatra getting out of a helicopter with a drink in his hand. Cool!

- Interesting profile of Freddy Mercury's longtime girlfriend

- Epic take-down on Jerry Jones and what he's done to the Cowboys

- Richard Nixon - man of the people!

- I mean come on - who hasn't been upset by the lack of beer?

- Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee - Jerry Seinfeld and Louis CK. Awesome!

- Interesting interview of Bill Simmons on his experience in podcasting

- Cool photo of Mount Fuji circa 1920

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I don't care how awesome the Internet becomes - Zombo.com will still be the best site ever... Have you seen those pictures of Richard Branson dressing up as a stewardess because he lost a bet? Just saying but the Most Interesting Man in the World would never do something like that.... Interesting - 10 hotel secrets from behind the front desk... I have Albert Pujols in one of my fantasy baseball leagues so I don't have to be reminded that Lyle Overbay has more HR (6-5) and more RBI (23-21)... Franks Sinatra has been dead for 15 years now - here's 15 things you may not have known about him... This is genius - comedian Kurt Braunolher paid to have this written in the sky above Los Angeles... Now would be a really good time for President Obama to raise or lower the sea levels just to distract people from all these scandals...

Classic - Don Knotts as Frank Sinatra

Then again - maybe Don Knotts was playing Jason Kidd?

Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Burgers

Here are "recipes" from Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra for making burgers.

I like Sinatra's "recipe" better.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- Robert Kraft's heartfelt statement on the passing of football legend Al Davis.

- The 25 smartest things that Steve Jobs ever said. This one seems especially apt:

25. "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed saying we've done something wonderful ... that matters to me."

- Pretty amusing Carlsberg beer commercial

- Just a reminder that new White Sox manager Robin Ventura wasn't just a good player - he was also a medical marvel. Ventura was a recipient of an ankle transplant.

- Gordon Edes with a nice article on Adrian Gonzalez and his faith.

- Sinatra Has a Cold - Gay Talese's legendary profile of Frank Sinatra.

Strange Dream

I awoke to a strange dream this morning. It involved tanks, Frank Sinatra and an old woman in a wheelchair.

I was in a small town and I was watching the tanks do urban combat maneuvers with Frank Sinatra and some old woman in a wheelchair. We were watching from a parking lot next to a field. The tanks that were practicing were firing on old broken down tanks that were placed around the town. The weird thing (as if the whole thing isn't weird) was that instead of explosive shells or even paint shells - the tanks were firing big black cannon balls which would bounce off the dummy tanks after a direct hit.

There was a dummy tank in the field next to the parking lot we were watching from and neither Frank nor I noticed but every time a tank fired at that dummy tank in the field - the old lady's wheelchair jumped a little from the percussion from the blast. One final blast sent her rolling backwards down a small slope into the field towards the dummy tanks. I rushed to save her but Frank did nothing but watch. I had to duck to avoid the incoming shots from tanks and I had to move the old lady around to avoid the cannonballs as the bounced off the dummy tank.

After much exertion I was able to push the old lady back up the incline and back into the parking lot. I awoke just as I was going after Frank Sinatra to give him a beating for not helping out.