so let's leave it alone

 'Cause we can't see eye to eye

There ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy
There's only you and me and we just disagree ( Dave Mason)

Rest in Peace to Dave Mason....

can't remember if this recurring character post is called Post cards from the Bean Post Window or Snippets from the Bean Post window....but you get the idea.....at least i hope you do.....and if you are more confused now then 30 seconds ago....just wait.

some observations from the past few weeks news cycle....in no particular order.

Schmucky Chuck Schumer brought a Vote to limit the POTUS war powers funding...a futile effort to stop funding for the Iran excursion without Congressional funding......for a 5th time.......when asked if he thought anything had changed since the first 4 votes and that maybe this time it would pass.....the corrupt senile ol bastard admitted out loud....NO.....i just want to tie the Republicans to this operation epic Failure so they can't try to distance themselves from the war in the midterm elections......so the Senator from the great state of NY is wasting everyone's time basically trashing our military efforts, hoping we somehow FAIL in Iran and running an ad campaign at the taxpayers expense........can anyone say term limits ?  followed by public executions for treason.

Fang Fangs boyfriend had some very serious allegations come to light about sexual harassment and rape....and the ink was barely dry on the story when Turkey Neck Pelosi and Adam Shitt went public demanding ERIC SWALWELL  end his campaign for Governor of California........but no mention of him resigning from Congress........so if you are keeping score at home he is OK to serve congress as an accused rapist , but not to campaign for Gov.....hmmm..........truth is everyone knew for years he was a younger Harvery Weinstein, and everyone knew it was a matter of time before the allegations surfaced......and the unfortunate truth is that the California Gov race was crowded with 5 demonrats splitting the vote.....so they needed someone to drop out , so why not the cringe worthy Swalwell.....but they need him to keep that congressional seat blue.

The Southern Poverty Law Center Indictment should be the biggest story of the new millennium....but it won't be......people from coast to coast who wonder "How did my country become so divided"? have their answer......but nobody is talking about it....

8 months into President Trumps first term ( August 2017) there was a rally in Charlottesville Virginia to Unite the Right and protest the taking down of Confederate Statues ( specifically West Point Graduate Robert E Lee). The protest was met by an unusually large counter protest and violence ensued.....the Unite the right side was provided torches at Night and Nazi Flags during the day.(not something I or anyone i know could support) , the counter protestors were bussed in from near and far with fancy signs painting the right wing conservatives as white supremacist's .....an awfully fast and efficient response to something that had not happened yet........in the ensuing violence, one wacko drove his car through a group of counter protestors and tragically killed Heather Heyer..........this sparked National debate and National division....the left insisted that ALL Trump supporters were KKK White Supremacists and Neo Nazi's.........Trump called Heather Heyer a great woman and offered condolences  to her family.....he said there were bad actors on BOTH sides.....and some Fine People on BOTH sides.....the Media only reported that Trump defended the rally and called the Killer a Fine Person........the 1st of many hoaxes encouraged and supported by the MSM..........in the months after the rally the SPLC  saw their networth jump from 50 million to 820 million...prompted by the likes of Apple's Tim Cook and his 2 million personal contribution.......and people who did not support Trump now had their signature moment to forever hate and try to stop him....after all....he was the equivilent of Hitler...

Here is the kicker.........BOTH sides were funded by the same party......the recent indictment charges that the SPLC was paying the KKK to organize the the Rally on the right, so that they could then prove a need for organizations like them........LOOK....SEE....Racism REALLY IS alive and well and must be stopped.....and we are just the ones to do it.....it is the equivalent of a  Fire Dept  paying arsonists to set fires so that they could in turn argue on their own behalf for more $$$ in the budget to fight fires.............

and the toll this took on the country is still being felt.....but again the MSM is instead questioning the merits of the indictment instead of looking in the mirror and feeling shame for the harm they have done to this great country.

if any spacemen  are reading this in the 22nd century...it is true....although i am sure eventually AI will deny any of this ever happened....they already deny that 2+3=BEEER.

I'm going back to a place that's far away
How bout you, have you got a place to stay?
Why should I care when I'm just trying to get along?
We were friends, but now it's the end of our love song

So let's leave it alone

it's time for Hockey Playoff Prognostication

 i know everyone was probably holding their collective breaths.........so here we go with the first rd predictions:

right off the bat we have a shocker.......Ottawa over my hometown Canes

Flyers over the Penguini's and clam sauce

Young Sabres over aging Bruins

Le Habitants over the Lightning 

out west

Colorado over LA

Dallas over Minnesota

Utah shocks Vegas

The Ducks drill the Oilers

stay tuned for rd 2

turn on channel 6

the President comes on the news

Says, "I get no satisfaction, that's why I sing the blues" (Weir) 

Gee.....i wonder why Iran went into the negotiations on Saturday with a false set of expectations and bravado......45 days in and their navy lies at the bottom of the gulf, they haver no air defense and our bombers control the skies.....and yet they seem to expect us to cave ?

Maybe, just maybe; they watch CNN.......maybe they believe the demonrats who insist America is loosing or the ones that insist THEY will stop the war effort by cutting off POTUS Power and Funding, maybe they believe Jeffries and Schumer and Sanders......the ones who claim to be against war, but when the President agrees to a ceasefire to allow for peace talks, they insist on telling the world that Trump Chickens out..........

or Maybe they think all Americans are like Barry Hussien, (Spoonjiah) or ole purple heart kerry....and that we will eventually give them pallets of cash to pretend to be our friends and not build a nuclear weapon........

i said it 15 years ago.....the spoonjiah administration truly believed that the only way to keep the evil Israelis in check in the middle east,  was to have a nuclear weapon in Tehran........Barry and friends feel that the Jews are the Real problem in the region.....and that they will have to stop killing the poor palestinians if Iran has the bomb.........they are/were naïve enough to believe that Iran would use the bomb on the Jews and NOT the EU or the west.......stupidity..........the moslem plan is to convert or kill every last human, as long as it takes......

side note.....Congrats to the great Jonathan Quick on his storied career........in typical modest form he refused to announce his retirement until after the final home game at MSG........he did not want the big Dolan sendoff.......he was the consummate teammate to Igor Shesterkin....he stayed supportive and was always ready when called upon..........it was nice to see the Rangers ALL wear QUICK jerseys in the pregame skate down in Miami.....and also classy move by the Panthers to remain on the ice after the game and form an impromptu handshake line to say goodbye to Mr Quick.....an American hero and a Hall of Famer with three Cups on his resume .......2 as a starter in LA, and one as a backup in Vegas...

2+3=BEEER

Then God way up in Heaven, for whatever it was worth
Thought He'd have a big old party, thought He'd call it Planet Earth
Don't worry about tomorrow, Lord, you'll know it when it comes
When the rock and roll music meets the risin' Planet Sun

The lunatic is on the grass

 The lunatic is on the grass.

Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs.
Got to keep the loonies on the path. (Pink Floyd)

the brain is a wonderful thing...sometimes.......it seems the older i get and perhaps the more free time i have since i have ceased working for the man....the more memories from a life well lived come circling back......some frightening.....some regrets.....but mainly the wonderful small details of magnificent, yet simple, adventures.

Case in point this morning over a cup of coffee......i was talking about a local watering hole called the Duck Dive.......and boy is it ever a dive........a shoebox bar on stilts on the main road to the ocean.......3 or 4 packing spaces only and a flight of rickety stairs must be navaigated.....but an incredible Burger, Ice Cold Beer and a jukebox that only seems to play Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker and the Outlaws ( maybe because i dominate the selection process) But Hey.......that's not the point.....and i digress.

This post is really about one of the greatest burgers i have ever had......Saturday Aug 3rd 1985...........i woke that day in the Great Lakes Training Center, having graduated from Boot Camp the day prior, i was now going to enjoy my fist tastes of liberty since early June.......i boarded a commuter train bound for Chicago with two shipmates.....don't ask my how i remember, but i do.....Eugene Heath from Daytona Beach and Steve Slanac from Buffalo NY......we bonded over our 8 weeks of Bootcamp and i told them i was going to meet friends at Wrigley and they were ecstatic to ride along......the Baseball Gods smiled upon me this day as the beloved 2nd place NY Metropolitans were in town for a showdown series against the 1st Place Cubs........but i have talked about that game before....today we discuss THE BURGER.

After arriving in the North End we hope a cab to Clark & Addison.....stopped into a bar for a few cold ones and then walked down Sheffield Ave........as we entered Murphy's Bleachers i was transposed into a wildly enthusiastic version of Heaven.....a gutted brownstone with an open floorplan and bars on either side of the great room....i had goosebumps........we grabbed beers at the first chance and proceeded to walk into the backyard ( Murphy's has changed over the years, but this was the scene in 1985).......we were basking in glorious sunshine and enjoying Ice Cold Old Style Beer and reflecting on the prior 8 weeks of torture......we were standing at a pub table and of course we were in our Uniform of the Day ( Summer Whites) it was clear to everyone that we had no stripes and were recent grads of Boot Camp.......there was a massive grille in the center of the yard and the charcoal smoke was a welcome aroma.......the fella manning the grille was wearing a big White Chefs hat , he had on a Cubs apron, he was in his 40's.......stood about 5 feet 5inches and probably weighed 300 pounds.......he came over to our table and placed three cheeseburgers down ......we started to fish through our pockets for some doe rae me and he put his hand up and so NO Charge......"I was a squid in a prior Life too"  and the burgers were on the house, and they (Murphy's) supported our Troops......

that Burger....that Beeer....that atmosphere.....that moment in time.......euphoric.

I lie awake at night sometimes and i wonder what i ever did to deserve a life blessed with so many moments like this.....this was one of the best......this was America....the same America i had just finished 8 grueling weeks of physical training to defend and protect.....and WE ( me, Heath , Slanac and all our shipmates) were now part of a special brotherhood....we were members of the Armed Forces of the United States of America........and i for one never forgot the gesture ....i have made it my business to buy a round for anyone i saw in uniform in the bars of Manhattan during Fleet week or whenever i may cross paths......we are the greatest nation in the history of this planet and it thanks to everyone, but especially guys like the Chef in Murphy's..........and that BURGER was perfectly charred and delicious....and the Old Style in a 16 ounce "Styrofoam" Cup was rewarding..........i have been lucky enough to be in the Right Place at the Right Time on so many occasions.......and i thank our Maker for every second of this live i have lived.

T minus 24 hours until the Zion National Park Extreme Marathon......hopefully Steve O'Dowd packed a sweater nite T-shirt and can send some pictures partying with the Snakes.

2+3=BEEER

And if the cloud bursts, thunder in your ear
You shout and no one seems to hear.
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.

Good luck had just stung me

 To the race track I did go

She bet on one horse to win
And I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor
I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track
Sure enough, she had won (R. Robertson)

i was lost in thought the other day when Cripple Creek came on my ipod shuffle.....suddenly i was thinking about "Larry the Legend" ....winner of the 1995 Santa Anita Derby......at first i couldn't remember how Larry fared in the Kentucky Derby ....and then i kinda, sorta remembered that he scratched before the race because of an injury.......so i had to look it up ....and i was correct.......the article i found said he was poised to be one to the top 3 favorites in the Derby before being scratched a week before the race because of a chipped bone in his knee......i researched further and learned that he returned to racing, but never really regained his form and he retired from racing in 1997.....he lived in peace on a farm for retired race horses and passed away in 2022 at the age of 30.......in the 95 Santa Anita he was 3rd choice and went off at 5-1...and paid $13.20 .......i had him that day....$20 to win, $10 to place and $5 to show..........I was in the Bally Bunion and i watched the race with Charlie Jensen......it was April 8th 1995.

you might be wondering where i am going with this one......so i will explain.....the day prior i called my parents down the shore from work , and when i was talking to my Father i told him that my co-worker Angelo had given me a tip on Larry the Legend.....not insider info, just a guy that was a very very good handicapper and had given me many wins over the years......so i told my father to place a few sheckles on Larry...........and so from the payphone in the back of the Bunyon i called my parents again to see if my Father had indeed bet on Larry.......it was then that i learned that my father had died of a heart attack about an hour or two prior.... no cell phones back then, no way anyone could reach me, no way anyone would think to have called the Bunyon...........in the aftermath i did ask my Mother if he had ever placed the bet......and she had her own acct, but had access to his OTB acct and confirmed his final bet was $5 to win on Larry the Legend.......tomorrow will be 31 years , but somedays it feels like 100.

when you're lost

 in the rain in Juarez

And it’s Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don’t pull you through
Don’t put on any airs
When you’re down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outta you (Dylan)

and so after March departed like a lamb , Easter comes knocking on the first Sunday of April.

Truth be told i never really had a sweet tooth and didn't care much for chocolates......i despise lamb and mint jelly and pretty much all of the Easter traditional foods.....and so about a dozen years ago, we began turnig down invites for Easter dinner....it became our backyard work day in Little Silver....we would clean out the garage and shed, and get all the outdoor bars and seating areas cleaned off and ready to rock n roll........i would pack a massive cooler of beer........light the grill.........light every fire pit and tiki torch ....and listen to a special edition Easter playlist.......

and now i find myself on the Baptist belt...not sure if these heathens even know who Jesus was.....and i have a lawn service that take cares of the yard....and the glorious Bars ended up in landfills in Monmouth County....no takers willing to preserve the History of those landmarks....

But the playlist survived......and tomorrow I will indeed pack a massive cooler of beeers and listen to songs inspired by or about the Son of God.....or mainly just Dylan

2+3= Salvation.......and BEEER.....one in the same

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes

I bargained for salvation an’ they gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn
“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”