The best is always yet to come

That’s what they explain to me
Just do your thing, you’ll be king
If dogs run free  (Dylan)

Fresh off a successful jaunt to Raleigh and feeling good about the Canes chances verse Vegas.....at the start of the playoffs i questioned their defense and goaltending .......i no longer do.........I must admit that should they loose, i will be very happy for Coach John Tortorella.....the beloved former Blue shirt coach.

The Lenovo Center was a gem......they had 2 makeshift bars in the parking lot at the main entrance to the arena and were slinging ice cold cans of Beeer for $5....and since were staying in a hotel we did not have a car or cooler....so this was ideal.......once inside the place was impressive.....felt much smaller than the 18,500 capacity.......we sat in the upper tier in the St Patrick section (317)..........sections 318 & 319 were removed last year and replaced with an open air VIEW BAR with a railing overlooking the ice....pub tables, and flat screen TVS along the walls.....and amongst other things they were serving STORM BREW on Tap.....The Raleigh Durham brewery brewed this beer especially for the arena and Canes fan were allowed to pick the name.......we stayed in a Ramada on the campus and a short walk from the arena.....great experience.

Saw a hysterical interview with Doctor Jill......obviously she has a new book coming out and so now she's talking......she swears that during Joe's debate meltdown she thought he was either drugged or having a stroke.........now most ordinary citizens know; if a person is having a stroke, time is of the essence and every minute counts............so what did Doctor Jill do ?    she took Joe to the Atlanta Waffle House in the middle of the night to shake hands with the natives.......and the next morning she paraded him onstage and praised him for "answering every question" from the night before.......hmm......dam video evidence is hard to argue against.....guess she wasn't too worried about that so called stroke she thought he was having.

Mandani....the Mayor for ALL of NEW YORK......will become the first sitting Mayor to skip the Israeli Day Parade since its' inception in 1964....i hope the tarlovs of the world are happy.......but hey.....when someone tries to tell you WHO they really are......you should listen.

POTUS has accepted an invitation from Jim Dolan to attend one of the Knicks games at MSG in the finals.....must see TV.......hopefully be brings  Tom Homan and has ICE arrest Wemby during the pregame shoot around.

This morning me and my Pal were taking a stroll along the golf course as the sun came up.....he really took his time...sniffing everything....taking it all in......we both watched golfers stretching and prepping by the first tee box....envious perhaps of those that are on the front 9 of life....while we both are somewhere between 17 and the clubhouse........slainte....breathe it all in.....enjoy what you can.

True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall
In harmony with the cosmic sea
True love needs no company
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole
If dogs run free

 

going down the road

 feeling bad.

don't want to be treated this way (Trad: GD)

Big win for the hometown Canes last night..........an Overtime W in the Bell Centre in Montreal to remain unbeaten on the road in these playoffs...........5-0 away from Raleigh........10-1 overall in the postseason.....total domination...........i have tickets for game 5 at the Lenovo Center on the campus of the NC State Wolfpack..........it will either be a pivotal game 5 in a 2-2 series.....OR.....Dare i say......a chance for the Hurricanes to capture the Prince of Wales trophy and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals...in any event, Raleigh sb Rockin....and it seems as though Taylor Hall is on a mission to finally raise the Cup....God Speed.

don't want to jinx the Golden Knights, but up 3-0 and things are looking really good for Johnny Torts...a class act, sorely missed by most of Blueshirt Nation......

I'm reading that zohran the idiot is opposed to watch party's around the city for the Knicks during this historic run at a title......he says they are too loud and disruptive.........he is however a BIG proponent of watch party's and relaxed restrictions around the city for the World Cup soccer next month( even though NY is not a host, but NJ is) ....just another example for the argument that he is hellbent on tearing down the old city and replacing it with 3rd world ideals....one big arab bazar and toilet bowl........everyone smoking Hookah and peddling fake watches............hopefully ICE is resting up for a blitzkreig during the World Cup.

I am a little surprised at the ongoing negotiations in Iran.....but i am not conceding.......POTUS and his entire cabinet are headed to Camp David tomorrow for a cabinet meeting.....I have to believe that if Iran does not capitulate to the deal that includes surrendering their uranium and giving up the notion of a Nuclear weapon, and does say by today or tomorrow.......i still feel the Big Hammer is going to drop......these iranians are not reasonable, they see themselves as martyrs, let's make it so........they are hoping that our congress eventually stops funding the military.....not that far fetched......i think Trump really wants diplomacy to prevail, but even he must admit that you can't trust or negotiate with these people....it's way past time......they still think WE are the paper tiger.....let's dispell that notion and dispell a few hundred thousands skulls while we are at it.....

2+3=BEEER

Going where the water tastes like wine
Well I'm going where the water tastes like wine
Going where the water tastes like wine
I don't wanna be treated this a way

There's a battle outside, and it's ragin

 It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin’ (Dylan)

As i sit here on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, i am both wishing i was in BAR A and also a fly on the wall of the situation room. I think somewhere in the next 24-48 hours the US will strike IRAN and strike them very hard. I Believe Sen Wicker from Mississippi was on the mark when he criticized and warned POTUS to NOT make a deal with Iran (as they can never be trusted) and to instead "Finish" the job that was started.

Trump said on Friday that he was NOT going to attend Don Jr's wedding on Saturday because he felt the need to remain in Washington, and also on Friday the Dir of National Intelligence abruptly resigns to care for her husband that is battling cancer...........but we also know that Tulsi Gabbard is the loudest anti-war voice in the cabinet........coincidence ?   maybe not. 

In any event.....i think after a long cease fire and talks that are going nowhere, it is time for Trump to raise the stakes, attack their energy plants and make the Iranian public uncomfortable.....this is war, not chess.....it is time to go after the Revolutionary guard and start wiping entire divisions off the map.......he can't risk any more defections and another war powers vote;  after yet another recess.....i fully expect the hammer to drop this weekend.

say a little prayer for the Carolina Hurricanes tonight if you can......i have tickets for game 5 next Friday in Raleigh......so long as the Habs don't sweep.

2+3= DEATH to IRAN

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

Happy 60th Dano

 oh, we would have raised quite a few glasses celebrating your 60th today , rest easy Dano, you are missed.

Matteau Matteau Matteau

 back by popular demand after a few years respite........

Feel free to add comments as to where you were and what you were doing when Matteau Matteau Matteau struck Gold......

Matteau Matteau Matteau

It was the Friday Night of Memorial day weekend,  the City was electric and pensive,  nerves were on end….. I was scared out of my boots as I walked out of 44 Wall street and  rode the subway up to Mustang Sallys, our traditional pregame watering hole in the spring of 1994…for 5 or 6 weeks we had been coming here before and after the games for burgers and a few beers….but on this night I couldn't even eat…..just stood by the door with Donn and Craig , washing down Budweiser beer like it was going out of style (as if that would ever happen)...Penn Station was abuzz with Commuters getting out of town... happy , smiling travelers with their weekend bags had no idea what kind of sh*t was about to go down, while upstairs in the World’s Most famous Arena the Broadway Blueshirts were about to take the ice for a critical game 7 of the Eastern Conf Finals against the hated, HATED  NJ devils……..I settled into my seat in section 419, row f ,  put two full buckets of said Budweiser Beer under my aisle seat,  rose for Mr Ammorante and the singing of our National Anthem…..and I remember thinking to myself, for the rest of my life, whatever happens tonight, will come flooding back to me every Friday of Memorial Day weekend …pain or glory, we will never forget this game…we will never celebrate this holiday weekend the same way..a small part of me was convinced of pending doom, fearful I would never again enjoy a memorial day bbq, ..we have to win……….first period was a scoreless draw…..more buckets of  Budweiser beer…….getting more nervous as the night wears on, which of course leads to faster drinking…….out to the rotunda between periods…scoreless………staring at the Post office…….please God……House lights come back on, crowd roars, back to our seats…nerves...…..midway through the deuce…….Brian leetch skates in from the circle……broduer defending 7th ave…….Leetchie pulls a spin-o-rama----lets go with a bullet….the light goes on……….the Garden erupts……YES !!!!!................the period ends…….more beer….not celebratory beers, but definitely happy ones….can actually breathe now..back to the rotunda……20 minutes from the finals…..the City knows it…….people are now gathering on the Post Office stairs across the street…….people without tickets are coming to the garden area to share in the celebration, the streets are filling up….I had chills on my neck……I ran into Kenny Coco (the CFO for Waterhouse Securities)…….the last thing he says to me is that when we hold on to win 1-0 , Richter will tie the record for most shutouts in the postseason……..Richter……The Rock of Gibraltar…our MVP....he was going to single-handedly win this thing…….very nervous to start the 3rd period…..it only gets worse….every shift….every dump in…..every whistle…..the crowd is bezerk……watching the clock….praying for an insurance goal…no such luck…gotta sweat it out, ranger style..….10 minutes…get a few more buckets of beer before last call…I will drink these beers during the post game ceremony I tell myself with a silent chuckle, would never say that out loud …for the hockey Gods to hear and strike me down with justifiable lightning…....8 minutes…6 and a half minutes ..5 minutesto play…I start allowing myself to dream…we are soo close……..2 minutes……the place is on its feet……..can't hear the whistle….can't hear yourself think……high fives all around……"THIS IS THE LAST MINUTE TO PLAY IN THE PERIOD"…….BEDLAM…sheer total BEDLAM…the upper tier of MSG is literally shaking…Christmas like  joy on the faces of so many…...goosebumps….chills…..sweating……nervous………30 seconds………broduer to the bench……they dump in…..one last push…….i'm squinting toward the 7th ave net from my 8th avenue seats, glancing at the clock…slowly tick, slower  tock…. tick……tock……..10 seconds……loose puck…mad scramble…..can’t follow the puck……the devils are jumping up and down….why?....the light is on…WTF ?....7 seconds….tie game……..

It was like being kicked in the stomach……..stunned silence……from the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of hell in a single moment..…I left my seat and walked to the rotunda before they had the faceoff……..stood starring at the post office………watching TV Crews with live reporters waiting on 8th ave for the delighted faithful to exit the building…..word spreads that they tied the game….the lights for the cameras start getting turned off…it really just happened.....we are going to OT……..a sad sickness and eerie silence hovers in the building……we are never going to win this damn cup….i said not a word…but I made a promise to myself….if they loose this game, I will never set foot in this building again…..never…for any reason…NEVER.


Me , Donn and Craig barely said a word to each other during intermission……it was like Clavins Funeral home up there……somebody must have died…somebody popular..…we retook our seats…..I could not concentrate…..the first ot was a blur……..I watched the red light behind richter fully expecting to see it go on, kinda wishin it would, so it would end my misery…….everytime they came into our zone I was sure the game would end……….midway through the period , the faithful woke up………”Lets Go Rangers” chants were back……we were exhausted and angry…….but we could not score…….back to the rotunda…..back to the window….this could go on all night..

House lights on...Back to our seats…….double OT …….wornout….feel like I went 10 rounds with Tyson….not sure how much more of this I can take…nerves are shot…..my eyes are tired..…Devils are shooting at 7th ave…….blueshirts are attacking our 8th ave net…..we get a chance, they get a chance…..back and forth and back and forth……3 minutes in.. the puck dances through our crease….it's going in ……..out of nowhere comes leetch……he swats it away…it hits a devil and is heading back towards the empty net….where is Richter?.......I am still not sure what really happened….to this day I think it hit the post….but somehow the light did not go on……somehow the puck did not go in…I can't take this…I really can't…..someone please end this game……..we dump in….they dump out….BUT NO …..we keep in and redirect around the net……not sure who is chasing the puck, watching Tikanen sneak in from the point for a pass……someone is emerging from the boards behind the net with the puck….a devil is hounding him……pass it to TIK I scream inside my head……..NO…..he attempts to stuff it in ……YES !!!!!!!!... YES….YES...

MATTEAU MATTEAU MATTEAU………..STEPHANE MATTEAU…………..and the Rangers have one more hill to climb baby..and it's Mount Vancouver……the Rangers are going to the finals………..the rest is beautiful history……..at 4 minutes and 24 seconds of Double overtime, the Rangers ended the greatest playoff Hockey Series in NY City history……emotionally and physically DRAINED…

As for me……we stayed and watched the trophy presentation without beer…….the Garden was electric again….like New years eve…strangers shaking hands….7th ave outside the garden was a crazy, crazy scene..the busiest streets on the planet were closed to traffic by a Mob of Hockey Fans…Chaos…back to Mustang Sally's….Met half of Bayridge there....a cab back to Brooklyn..…..cars honking horns on the Brooklyn Bridge…….went to PJ's Pub……was still there at 4:00 a.m. …bought beers in the bagel store for the walk home…….people walking up and down 5th ave with beers, stopping traffic..chanting lets go rangers…we want the cup...…..it was crazy…I walked all the way to my apartment on 95th & Shore rd……took a long time….seemed like the whole neighborhood came out to celebrate.

NOPE…..I will never ever allow the Friday of memorial day weekend to pass without reflection on that night….

round and round and round we spin

 To weave a wall to hem us in

It won't be long, it won't be long
How slow and slow and slow it goes
To mend the tear that always shows
It won't be long, it won't be long (N. Young)

I continue to be amazed by the amount of talking heads on TV that continue to question Mandani's intelligence.........the guy is NOT stupid......he does NOT believe that Socialism is the answer, he does NOT care about the future of NYC.....he is the first wave of the demolition team, his goal is to disrupt the Big Apple Cart.....to bankrupt the city and to make day to day life unbearable for the decent hard working people.......he wants to drive out the rich and the blue collar folks alike......he wants to turn NYC into a Sharia Law Paradise......and horse face hochul is along for the ride.

Last week he announced that they balanced the NYC budget........a closer look reveals that is NOT entirely true.........the 2 biggest issues.......they recd an 8 Billion dollar grant/subsidy from Hochul and the State.....AND......they deferred their contributions to the NYC pension funds till 2037....this will cost NYC approx $10 Billion more for the deferral.........the state gave them 8 Billion because Hochul is up for election.....she needs mandani to stay quiet and not drastically raise taxes......until after her election in november......remember this is the same horse face that "paused" congestion pricing......until 2 weeks after her last election.........i'm sure next year the state will not be so eager to cough up another $8 billion..........so just like in the 60's-70's when Lindsey deferred the cities obligations , so that he could fund his social agenda; and the city went bankrupt under Mayor Beam......mandani is kicking the can down the road for the next sucker.........so he can

Open another subsidized grocery store...... again....he is not naive enough to believe that opening grocery stores ( at the cost of 30 million a pop) and then using taxpayer dollars to cover part of the costs for the groceries is going to be a financial success......but again.....it's not supposed to be.......it is nothing more than an illegal tax of 99.5% of the population to provide cheap groceries and buy the votes of the handful of neighborhoods that get a grocery store.

but hey...the Knicks are looking good....so who cares....who's keeping score ?  not me.

2+3=BEEER

It's hard enough losing the paper illusion
You've hidden inside
Without the confusion of finding you're using
The crutch of the lie

Went to the fortune teller

 Had my fortune read

I didn't know what to tell her
I had a dizzy feeling in my head (Rolling Stones)

how this for a prediction market ?

Trump to Xi Xi Ping Pong :  " Stop Buying Iranian Oil.....buy from America and i'll give you a discount"

Ping Pong to the Donn :   "ok.....but we're taking Taiwan next month, stay out of it "

Rubio to Everyone :  "Deal, but then we're taking Cuba at the same time"

Fang Fang :   DEAL

Brendan Murphy:  Did someone say Deal ? ? ? 

and that friends will be the End of Iran and send the DOW to 60 or even 75K.......peace on earth, goodwill towards man, who cares if it only lasts a few years.....get in the deep end with the Blue chips and get out before they blow.

Dum Spiro Spero........while i breathe, I hope

2+3=BEEER

Now I'm a happy fellow
Well, I am married to the fortune teller
Well happy as me can be
Now I get my fortune told for free

while the firelights aglow

Strange shadows from the flames will grow
Till things we've never seen

Will seem familiar ( Hunter-Garcia)

shortly before his passing, Bobby Ace Weir did an interview and was asked about the legacy of the Grateful Dead music......and he seemed to be greasing the treads when he spoke of the where the locomotive was headed after "HE" passed........he was obviously comfortable and even encouraged at the thought of John Mayer driving the ship........he marveled at how the GD music was indeed built to last for at least 300 years.......not hubris......just honest observations....unlike their peers, the GD felt that after the sounds left their instruments they belonged to the universe.......and if you came to one of their shows you were welcome to "tape" it and bring the music home with you......provided you were willing to share it with others........Bob talked about how the original band members always collaborated with their fellow bands and played every benefit or festival that they were invited to..and after the passing of Jerry Garcia, Bob said he felt the responsibility to play with the next generation and find someone to shepherd the music after he was gone...

anyone raised in the 20th century can attest to how quickly music evolves and changes.......parents and their children rarely have similar tastes.........kids tend to reject their parents music as too old or old fashioned to be enjoyed or taken seriously...it's normal.

Last Sunday i was at the Grand Strand Brewery......the Owners/Brewmasters are also amateur musicians ....they have formed a GD cover band.....and on the first Sunday of each month they perform a free show on the plaza-public park outside the Brewery......as i was enjoying a Beach Haze Wheat Beer, half a block from the mighty Atlantic, a warm May breeze waffling across the plaza and the sounds of Samson & Delilah in the air.........i did a 360 and took it all in........and i took particular notice of those enjoying the music........seriously a range of toddlers to Senior Citizens......it's fun music.....incredibly American .....easy to sway to the beat,  or allow it to warm your soul........and i think and pray that Bobby is right.........We will survive, We will get by.

 

Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense and color
Hold away despair
More than this I will not ask

Faced with mysteries dark and vast
Statements just seem vain at last
Some rise, some fall
Some climb to get to Terrapin