Summer of 1977

With today's high in the 80s I thought a picture from the summer of 1977 would be in order. Wildwood, NJ

Earth Day

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. What a hopeful time that was to be young and alive! We believed we could change the world with our thoughts and actions.

Earth Day remains a lofty set of ideas to possess and espouse, nothing in the years since Earth Day's inception has changed this fact. Despite all evidence to the contrary and millions upon millions in lobbying efforts to debunk the gentle genius that we have but one planet and that we ought to consider our impact thoughtfully and carefully. Call me a tree hugger if you will, I just prefer to exercise some caution in face of contaminated water in cities like Flint, Michigan or in the city schools of Newark, NJ. There are scores of other examples I could mention where a little common sense would have made all the difference.

On this day I will hope to preserve a sense of optimism and courage to call out the wrongs being done or that have been done to our planet. It keeps me going and will hopefully help keep us well on our planet for a long time to come.

Then and Now: Geraldo Rivera

It was sad to watch Geraldo Rivera last night on FOX News trashing the President. When Geraldo was starting out in the 1970s as a crusading reporting uncovering the atrocities at Staten Island's Willowbrook State School, Mr Obama might have suited his interests just fine.

This was a long time ago and plenty of silly things have transpired in his life in the interim. Who can forget his 1986 documentary on The Mysteries of Al Capone's Vault? Thankfully, most everybody can because nothing turned up on this live broadcast.

I don't recall if he posed for PlayGirl but there he is looking like a hunk next to the Astrology headline.

What won't people do for a buck these days? Geraldo had a start that most investigative reporters would have leveraged the rest of their lives to examine issues which might make a difference. Now he has expensive suits to pay for, 5 divorces to his credit, and five children to his name. Trash TV pays better than any expose' he might come across, and with his track record it doesn't take a Math expert to see he has bills to pay.

Disposable Workers 2016

There was no talk of this kind around the dinner tables or cocktail parties of my youth. Pensions were largely generous and of the defined benefit variety, colleges were affordable and required no loans which would follow students throughout their lifetimes, and their were numerous institutions which bound people of various educational and monetary backgrounds.

Now workers are the first thing which our investment bankers deem expendable. They figure with a little re-training that these bulwarks of the middle class will be fine, and will soon find jobs which pay almost as much as they made previously.

These same people who fill the volunteer positions which keep our society functioning without friction are now asked to make do with less and keep plugging the holes in our society's safety net. Kinda a tough job for limited satisfaction. The middle class is already working two jobs, and no mothers are around to greet their children when they come home from school. Or better yet, the mothers who used to fix us lunch when we came home. Today in Ridgewood every grade school has a cafeteria and an after school club where children study until their parents pick them up at 6 or 7 PM. What a long boring day! This is the resulting education for our next generation when their parents are considered disposable and just in need of some re-training.

Empty Seats at Yankee Stadium

What are the owners of the New York Yankees thinking? Every night the YES Network shows plenty of high priced seats with no occupants. Yes, some of these people are inside the numerous private bars watching the game on a big screen TV.

Though let's remember when the seats were cheaper, unionized ushers showed you to your seat and wiped it clean, rain or shine. The above picture is from 1961 in September when Roger Maris of the NY Yankees broke Babe Ruth's record for homers in a season. Please notice the empty seats.

When do people realize they are making insane amounts of money for producing a show which at one time was our National Pastime? Couldn't they just use their myriad of computers and make the seats cheaper earlier in the season when the weather is chillier?

I can't mention it enough: these high-rolling owners, trust-fund babies, and people with more money than they know what to do with, are clueless as to how they ought to promote the long term health of their business. Putting fans in the seats while their high-priced talent plays a game most folks would play for free, would seem to be a good idea. What gives? Lower the prices. Fans will eventually turn away and watch NetFlix or stream music on Spotify as opposed to paying ridiculous prices in April for entertainment they could just as easily record.

The Day The Music Died

I never knew American Pie had so many references.  Though as a parlor game in our Freshmen college dorm it was brought up on more than one occasion. We debated the meaning of the song endlessly, as we would have done in High School had we been closer in proximity. The song demanded it and we had the time to give. Yes, studying was important, though we had so few distractions at my four year residential college in the late 1970s, especially when it rained or snowed, that a digression into Don McLean's words usually ranked as a nice change of pace.

According to Don McLean:
 "American Pie" was the name of the plane that Buddy Holly went down in.

It makes perfect sense now, and all the 1960's references were added to give meaning to each and every word of his song.

Can you imagine how much meaning is given to each and every word of our popular music these days? Not much, I'm afraid.

American Pie was one of the first albums I ever bought. Albums mattered more in my childhood than they do now because the cost is a larger proportional part of my income. 

Now I can stream the entire pantheon of modern music from Spotify for a monthly fee. The math is too obvious! Thank you, Gene Ricci.

This choice in favor of streaming over buying would have been an obvious decision as a teen, if it had been available. 

Don McLean wrote those most memorable words in response to the frustration he felt at the time. To tell the truth not much has changed. We are more divided as a nation now than when Buddy Holly's plane went down on that cold winter's night, or even when Don Mclean penned these words more than a decade later, and he put them to music.


The lyrics of American Pie. 

A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
Something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Now, for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rolling stone
But, that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lennon read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend
Oh and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singin'
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die
They were singing
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die 

Opening Day

After years of chasing away young Baseball fans by scheduling games at night, it appears Major League Baseball is learning the error of its ways. I couldn't believe it when I switched on ESPN to see a 1PM game on a Sunday.

I still recall afternoon World Series games beginning at 1PM, and all the pleading and excuses we made to our teachers to let us listen to the game on our transistor radios. Nobody questioned why the game was played in the afternoon, only that it was a tradition. It was when Ridgewood resident, Bowie Kuhn, succumbed to the lure of big television money, that the World Series and the Playoffs were moved to evening time. Here is a picture of him, no doubt wearing thermal underwear, during the 1979 Series in Pittsburgh, PA. He appears to me when you look at his hands that he wishes he had brought some gloves.

Nobody realized at the time what an incredibly self-defeating idea the shift of Major League Baseball (MLB) from the afternoon to the evening would turn out to be, and that multiple generations of fans would be lost for a short term profit. There were short term profits made but that was only because the owners of Baseball teams believed the Nielson ratings were accurate, and were the best indicator of their future fortunes as owners.

None of the owners remain who weighed in on this momentous decision. If they are in heaven now, I would guess they rue the day they moved MLB to the evening. I know that I certainly do, and will only forgive when the World Series and Playoffs are returned to daytime audiences.

Let's be clear, I love all the additional excitement of the extended playoffs which carries the season well into October and sometimes November. My problem is two fold: The 161 game season is too long and there are not enough playoff games played in daylight.

You would think that after MLB ridded themselves of all the ugly, multipurpose synthetic turf ballparks that they might have learned a significant lesson about America's past time. But no cigar. Look at the old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh:

Pity the ball player who fell on this concrete surface. Or the ones in Philadelphia, St. Louis, or Atlanta.
 
MLB still subscribes to the old totem that they will make more money with games ending well after midnight in the Eastern Time Zone. The joke is now on them as we all tend to tape late games and don't watch any commercials at all!

They might as well play the games when the fans, and the future fans, are awake.

RIP Bowie Kuhn.