There you stood

On the edge of your feather, expecting to Fly (N.Young).... Or on the precipice of disaster as I like to paraphrase....and so here we stand.... the sabre rattling between our dear leader and senyor Un is deafening....volleys of nuclear missiles and the solar eclipse, preacher man says who gets there first is uncertain..... I think of all the money I foolishly contributed to my 401k instead of Drinking premium beeeers....ah well....if this is indeed the end of the world as we know it... it's been fun.... I hope somehow this blog survives to explain to the aliens how we got here....what went right, what went wrong and that the Rangers we're the only NHL team to win 35 straight Stanley Cups..... that's right future martians, we are a hockey dynasty....anyhoo if the world is gonna end soon , I hope it happens before I have to buy Donnie that steak for the Kettletoga contest.....cmon Kim Jong, fire when ready.....but seriously we are spinning dangerously close to an encounter with no good outcomes....all roads lead to varying degrees of disaster....if anyone Thinks we are going to take out north Korea's leadership team, marginalize their weapons and liberate their masses....they are mistaken..... South Korea, Japan and Guam can say goodbye, he will certainly detonate a few nuclear Bombs on the peninsula.....Russia and China may put aside their differences and team up to come at us unified....it won't be pretty....if we attack North Korea we may as well nuke Moscow and bejing simultaneously.a la Michael Corleone...as Dylan says, and with the final shot he won the war after loosing every battle..... anyway lads.....drink up this Friday..... nobody is guaranteed Saturday... not even Glen Campbell.

Branding is Key

I just copy righted the official slogan for sweater Nite 20....."Fire and Fury the World has never known" thanks mister President.

Down in the valley of the shadows

It's just you..... Alabama....and me.(Hunter/Garcia).... although not necessary it's still fun to evoke the deep South when talking about racism....why does it Still exist in 2017 ?.....well yesterday the Trump Administration created a Nationwide panic, no not because North Korea is about to Nuke us; but rather because it seemed to be questioning affirmative action with regards to college admissions..... hmmmmm.....in 2017 we are all "clearly" equal....some more equal than others ( in new Jersey the disproportionate amount of money that goes to education in the black and Hispanic districts is staggering ) but Shirley if a black man can be elected President then there is nothing holding his brothers and sisters back... Shirley we are the land of equal opportunity..so why do we still have racial quotas ? Why are we trying to address discrimination against blacks by implementing discrimination against whites ? That divides the nation and inspires resentment at the least and hatred at it's extreme.....the majority of Americans accept each other and respect everyone's right to exist and pursue happiness..... doesn't mean we have to eat, drink and sleep together to prove we aren't racist.... But why hasn't natural evolution won yet...why are the minorities ( in status, not volume) still minorities ? Why haven't they weaved their way into the everyday fabric of American Life like so many generations of immigrants before them ?.... I will give you a simple answer although in truth we could go on for days......the LEFT needs racism.... without it they have no message...no enemy to blame,no devil to fight... no cause to rally the masses against....it's like the arabs in Palestine..... what the fuck would they do with their lives if they didn't have the Jews to obsess about....they are terrified of peace because they loose their cause......and the liberals are terrified of equality and peace amongst AMERICANS for the same reason....they must continuously bang the drum, stir the pot and divide the nation.....I hope I die before I get old.

Jerome John Garcia

Scuffle for a nickel, struggle for a dime Forget about the past, leave your worries behind How come the future has to take such a long, long time.... When you're waiting for a, When you're waiting for a, When you're waiting for a miracle......a Bruce Cockburn song, but Jerry sang it so well.....on what would have been his 75th birthday I thought it was appropriate.... Happy Birthday Jerry, smile down on us if you please.

Well the sun went in honey

Nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon in the summer.....iced down a cooler at 8:15..... Walked the dog.... took off the pool cover.... cranked up the DEAD....8 hours later..... sunburned, drunk, Happy..... fargin ehhh.

Sweater Nite 20

The Granddaddy of them all is right around the corner....I am currently Fielding bids from the prospective hosts.... although it will be tough to top the LIEF...... possible dates include Saturday March 3rd.... Which is hockey day in America.....and Friday February 23rd.....the Olympic semifinals are on FM pyongeung at 3:30 and 7:00 A.M........could make for a long day...... perhaps it will be the first sweater nite with a scheduled siesta break.

I shall return

As Douglas McArthur said of the Philippines while in Australia...and he of course did and the United States military liberated the Fillipinos.... you would think that they would be greatful.... I can tell you first hand that they are not....they hate and resent America....and if the truth ever comes out I think it will show that the ACX Crystal deliberately slammed into the USS Fitzgerald....an act of terror...an act of war.....our enemies are everywhere....some obvious.... some in sheep's clothing.

Tomorrow..... maybe go.... beneath the ground

I'm feeling a bit like the Dark Peter character that Jerry sang of.... I'm surrounded by bad news.....in politics, in sports, technology, the brokerage industry, my commute.....bleak outlooks at every turn in the road.......and now sadly.... even in my BEER.........the American craft brewing industry was one of the few bright spots in this country....but it's all deception....INBEV.....the blegiam/Brazilian conglomerate that bought Anheauser Bush a decade ago has quietly been snapping up some of America's best little breweries....they have been cutting deals with MLB stadiums and selling their Budweiser products of course.....but also THEIR craft beers ( which technically by definition are no longer true craft beers) Sam Adams and Coors ....2 Great American Brewers have been kicked to the curb at a number of stadiums (including Nationals park in our nation's capital).....these sneaky bastards are building these craft beer lodges around the country where they pitch THEIR beers to the dopey AMERICANS who think they are supporting the little guy.... what is wrong with this country.....why does every successful business cash out at the first opportunity and sell it's blood and soul to a bigger , sometimes foreign fish...... BLUE Point Brewing of Long island has a great website....real NY attitude loaded with curses and a we don't give a fuck approach.. just a bunch of guys that Brew beer for themselves and then sell whatever is left over.... awesome....but it too is bullshit....owned by inbev but designed to appear local.... I smelled a rat..... I looked it up.....I was right....GOLDEN ROAD of Los Angeles ? One of the best IPA's I have ever had.....inbev........ Goose Island of Chicago ? .....inbev....... BRECKENRIDGE Brewery....a delicious beer from the Rockies ?.....inbev..... Elysian....Four Peaks and Devil's Backbone are just a few of the others.... never mind the Syrian refugees.....we are under attack from the belgaminians....

The lesson today is how to die

I shudder to think what is being talked about today, if anything; in the classrooms around the world about the anniversary of the D-Day invasion.....how is it being spun ? I had one of the greatest days of my life in June of 1988 on the French Riviera.....I was asked (ordered) to take part in ceremony commemorating the Normandy invasion.....I was 23.....I wanted to be out of my dress uniform and back in the Bars of St Tropez as fast as possible....but our Weapons Officer.( LCDR Noble) ordered us to stick around for the reception.... I'm glad he did......we met with 14 or 15 surviving members of the French Resistance......the emotion and gratitude that these men showed while retelling their own stories about seeing the allied forces on THAT morning was overwhelming.....these guys shook our hands and gripped our arms and meant it......they could not describe the elation of seeing 200,000 men coming ashore to liberate their Country and destroy the Nazis.....I only hope THAT story is still being told around the world.....the one about teenagers of the allied forces giving their lives to free others.

blm

so a 5 year old boy was shot in the head while "visiting" his dad in the morrisania section of the Bronx.....somebody had to see something....if not the shooter.....certainly the intended target has a pretty good idea who was shootin at him.......lets see if black lives really do matter......or if this kid is just collateral damage.

Darkness

Until we realize we most certainly are at war with islam , We are doomed.....teach the truth in schools , prepare our next generation for war ( just like they have been doing for centuries)..... like idiots...the west has been Trying to broker Peace between isreal and palastine....and the palatinians only want the total destruction of isreal..... geuss what ? They're ain't gonna be peace.... move on..... support our allies, destroy our enemies.

Pissing Pug

As a 60 year old woman And a veteran of Wall Street for many years , I am delighted by the pissing pug statue next to that imposter "feàrless girl".....the BULL deserves better....the Bull is not evil.....more women like me got their opportunity in brokerage...... fearless girl didn't represent us..... Fearless girl was a publicity stunt by a mutual fund company to promote a lesbian, man hating mutual fund they were launching.... I like the pissing pug statue better.

Mister MET

Sad day for the blue and orange as our beloved Mascot has been unceremoniously kicked to the curb for making an obscene gesture.....the organization claims he flipped Off a fan .....but a closer look reveals that he only has 4 fingers......he doesn't have a middle digit.....let's Chip in for a good defense lawyer.

When blackness was a virtue

And the road was full of mud (b.dylan)...Bob wasn't talking about the color of one's skin, but rather evil....that blackness....the dark ages ........... Over coffee this morning I watched the liberal left emphasize that the murderous loser in Manchester England was home grown.... technically true but blissfully naive... their angle? In my opinion is to stress that bad people can popup anywhere....no need for stronger immigration laws or travel bans.....but a closer look reveals the human race ( full of Hope, full of grace....I digress) .....this loser was born in England, that is true ...to parents that fled Libya as refugees...hmm.... refugees or soldiers of Islam sent to infiltrate the west?.....legal immigrants are vetted , but refugees are welcomed with open arms because they are fleeing bad guys.....but what If they are NOT fleeing.... what if they are the ultimate wolves in sheep's clothing....let's look closer at the loser....his dad's name is Ramadan...hmm.....and Where is the poor refugee today ? Living in TRIPOLI.....huh ? What ? Isn't that in the country he fled as a refugee less than 25 years ago ? Yes Virginia it sure is....why wasn't Ramadan executed upon return ? Ok let's look at Mumzy....she is a teacher of the Koran...it's unclear where she resides,...but if Islam is the religion of peace and your Mom is a scholar of the religion and teacher of the Koran... how the heck did junior get it so wrong ??? How did the small percentage of bad guys radicalize this poor lad, and Where was Mumzy to straighten him out......my mother wasn't a scholar or a preacher....but if I came home from school and told her that Jesus wanted me to blow myself up and kill 20 Jews with me , she would have set me straight.....so perhaps Mumzy and Ramadan had children not out of love but rather to raise soldiers to infiltrate the west and Carry out attacks from within ? The moslems live in shit and squalor around the globe....they have been for 2,000 plus years.....they understand this war won't be won in their lifetime and certainly not overnight.... They have all the time in the world.....each generation takes another step....another bite out of the world's pie.... perhaps the entire religion is in on the secret.....and since WWII they have taken giant leaps.....they have infiltrated every continent and have have of their enemies on their side.... arguing their points, excusing their murderers and helping them destroy the Infidels...is every Moslem in on it ? Who knows....are some just pawns in the game ? Probably...but if we don't start considering these possibilities and asking tough questions, we are doomed.... until we stop this liberal slide of painting every one else as a poor victim of our white privilege, we are doomed, until we get our heads out of the sand and profile and identify our attackers..we are doomed, until we stop trying to silence conversations that may offend those that wish to harm us , we are doomed.... AND. until we realize that we most certainly are at war with ISLAM , we are doomed......"Do I understand your question man , is it hopeless and forlorn ? Come in she said I'll give you, shelter from the storm.

Notre Dame disgrace

One more reason to hate these privileged pieces of shit...the party of tolerance that has no tolerance for any thoughts and ideas that are not in lockstep with their own.....the spoiled little rich kids of Notre Dame walked out on a comemcement speech at their own graduation because they didn't want to hear what the Vice President of the United States had to say...... time to grow up and show some respect for Christ sakes.....I hope hiring managers take a long hard look at any ND resumes and consider the consequences of hiring such indignant and intolerant babies.

Sanctuary

" I pity the poor immigrant , who wishes he never left home...who passionately hates his life and likewise fears his death ".D.Dylan.... It's hard not to feel empathy for the immigrants that Mister Dylan sang about, they came with nothing, toiled at the bottom rung of the ladder and in most cases , surrendered a generation....gave up their own lives, worked 2 or 3 jobs....all on the premise that their children and their generations to come, would have the "opportunity" to better themselves....the opportunity to live a free life, the opportunity to go to College or learn a trade....their sacrifice sb admired.....but with some notable exceptions, I ask ; do today's immigrants bare any resemblance to their predecessors ?..... I am not seeing it......I see a generation of illegal trespassers, coming to our shores with their hands out and anger up..... demanding that our norms and mores bend to accommodate them.... refusing to assimilate, but rather trying to convert America....we are a compassionate nation despite what Bernie Sanders might think....we always help those that wish to help themselves...but everything has to have limits.....the notion that Law enforcement and City and state Governments can pick and choose which laws to enforce is the beginning of a civil war...... would the hypocrites on the left be okay if states in the Bible belt declared themselves as SANCTUARIES for the unborn and refused to allow abortions ? We know they would not..... the lesson is you can not take the law into your own hands....or ignore the laws you feel are unjust.....you must try to change the law if you are so inclined....no matter how painstakingly long that could take..........yes, "I pity the poor immigrant, when his gladness comes to pass "

Derby Rant 2017

so I'm sitting at the silver bullet bar in Monmouth Park watching the Thunder Snow but out of the corner of my eye I'm Lookin At Lee and he's on a mission, Fast and Accurate he's sipping his Gunnevera and washing it down with pints of Tapwrit....like he's the king of his own Classic Empire, totally Untrapped in a State of Honor or something , ....me ? Irap with the barlass, impress her with my Irish War Cry and silly anecdotes about Mcracken, telling tales like a Sonneteer, but it falls on deaf ears like a J Boys Echo...cause it the Evil Gormley with a Patch over one eye that she's interested in....Hence ...I'm Girvin up....don't want to start another Battle of Midway over something so silly as a Practical Joke.......gone but never forgotten....because guys like me are ALWAYS...ALWAYS DREAMING. The Play today for me is Always Dreaming up top.....tied to Practical Joke as my primary exacta....with Gunnavera and Irish War Cry played prominently in my triples and superfectas......birthdays, anniversaries, addresses etc etc...just enough crazy bets to ensure that even if I win...I loose......alas...more often than not....I have been wrong before....Good Luck and Gob Bless...and remember....you can never bet too much on a winning horse.

Denny Forrest

So I was asked to elaborate on the tweet that USA Today used....here it is....... (Vulgar homophobic attacks on anyone, should never be acceptable in our society.... sponsors? We are watching.)........ I got into about a dozen nasty Twitter wars as a result....they usually ended with me asking people if they preferred to be called Cock Holsters or the traditional FAGGOTT.......that's when they stopped responding..... including one lady who I looked up on the internet.....she is a Broadway and tv actress....I saw on her imdb page that she hadn't worked since 2011....so I told her to find a new career......I mean Denny Forrest told her those awful things....... check back tomorrow for my annual DERBY RANT.

We've gone National

So yesterday a Firestorm erupted across the country in reaction to Steven Colbert and his lateshow monologue in which he said... amongst other things; that Trump's mouth was a cock holster for Putin.....it sparked a hashtag FireColbert and people across the Nation chimed both in calling for his firing and also those defending him....USA Today ran a national story on it's website...... amongst the hundreds of thousands of reactions on Twitter, USA Today selected 10 tweets for it's article.... right dab in the middle was a poignant response from a fella by the name of Denny Forrest ( aka Danny Woods) and his Twitter handle is @sweaternite .....yes....it was me.....I created that account a few years ago and have been making social commentary under that name....my mantra is WWDS....... What Would Dano Say.....and so I stalk various members of the media, sports world and politics and I add Danoesque comments....Amy Freeze and Juliette Huddy love Denny Forrest..... Curtis Sliwa blocked him....he harasses New Jersey Transit weekly and chimes his way into the national dialogue of the day....good clean fun.... On a serious note... for those reading this blog into 22nd Century.....in America 2017 there no longer is dialogue and debate....both sides have dug in..... neither side holds their own accountable anymore.....both sides blindly defend their own....and that's never good..... America is a powder keg waiting to explode.......did someone say KEG ???? Good Lord I can go for a BEEEER.....is Mcanns Open yet ?

on to Boston....

hopefully......lets keep this tour of the original 6 going.....having disposed of Les Habitan , let's hope the bean eaters can force a game 7 and win.....that would give us 6 days off...and I think the bruinees are already short staffed and exhausted........after that ? how about the young, upstart Maple Leafs......the hockey Gods would be smiling on the Rangers if our road to the finals didn't have to stop in Columbus, Washington or Pittsburgh.........and rumor has it that the league and NBC , starving for ratings ....will award the Clarence Campbell Trophy to the Chicago Blackhawks.......so what if they were swept in the 1st round......this is a business...this is money.......nobody wants to watch the Rangers and Predators........professional sports can do whatever they want to whomever they want...the financial ends justify the means.......people will be mad for a day or so and say its unfair.....but once we drop the puck at 9:15 eastern on a Monday night....all will be forgotten and forgiven.

Allright Clancy

What's All this talk about hockey ?? Well....It is a hockey blog after all.... Great win by the Blueshirts, but it's all for naught if you don't advance on Saturday nite.... You don't dare go back to Saint Catherine Street for a game 7.........My oilers and Cam Talbot are looking good, it'll be Edmonton v Toronta jim in the finals.. NEXT YEAR tho....If someone told me back in 1979 when I was drinking beeeers on the 76th stairs and listening to the OUTLAWS and Charlie Daniel's, that I'd be seeing them at the Count Basie in 2017 .....I'd have said...."ok , where are my seats?"........Yet there I was last night.... Great show, cold beer...Got home in time to watch the OT !

Why stay in College ? Why go to night school ?

David Byrne asked some fair questions nearly 40 years ago.....They remain unanswered for different reasons today....What is college I wonder...It's certainly not what it was when I was graduating high school...Why must EVERYONE go to college or be considered a failure/ dissapointment ? Is it anything more than 4 years of boozing , sexual exploration, incurring of debt that would make the greatest generation nauseous, all while be lectured that America is bad, White people are bad, and white males are the fucking devil....4 years of trying to befriend a transgendered Muslim with HIV to convince yourself you are tolerant ? Gov Cuomo and Bernie think that college should be free....But they aren't going to ask the faculty to volunteer to teach for free or take a pay cut....No....When they say free they mean other, Older taxpayers should pay for it.....And Bernie has the nerve to say that America is NOT a compassionate nation.....How soon before these college grads refuse to pay back their student loans ? And then blame the big bad evil banks for giving them loans in the first place ?....Oops , sorry.....That's what occupy Wall Street was all about....That and smoking weed and sexually assaulting each other in Zuccotti park......Oh mister Byrne was right.....Burnt all my notebooks, what good are notebooks...I ain't got time for that now !

Bombs away

For me, the splendors fading, Yeah, guess I'll have to change the world" .... That of course is a Bob Weir lyric from a silly love song in the 80's....But oh so appropo this morning....The Donn of Jamaica Estates...Aka the President of the United States, Mr Donald Trump has put the world on notice.... Stymie don't live here anymore....The game has changed..... Play with fire and you just might get burned.......Use chemical weapons against your own people and you'll get more than a lecture......."hey now, around we go".

Catch the Bull at Four

Time to weigh in on fearless girl....I preface my attack with some clarification.....I began working on Wall Street in 1989.....I have worked with some brilliant women, as hard working, tough and funny as any man....I never doubted their ability or called into question their commitment to the job because they were women....I have had women bosses and I have had a lot of women on my various staffs..... They are different animals, in some ways better and in some ways not so much.... But they are most certainly equal.....From my seat in​ history, wall street has always rewarded performance and strictly performance.....Wall Street is color blind...It only sees green....That's not to say that their is no discrimination...Of course there is.....And are there plenty of sexist, racist bosses ? Undoubtedly yes....But it remained as practically the only Industry where a guy or girl from the boroughs, without a college degree, could rise through the ranks and become a boss........2 months after I started on Wall Street....On December 15th 1989 to be precise; a crazy Italian artist named Arturo Di Modica drove his prize sculpture ...A 7,000 pound charging bull into lower Manhattan and placed it (with help) at the foot of the CHRISTMAS tree on Broad Street outside the New York Stock Exchange....As a gift for the people of NY in the aftermath of the 1987 financial crisis....Can you imagine that happening in today's age of security..Lol......The bull represents American Strength in general, and Wall Street prosperity specifically.... Well the NYPD sprung into action and put the statue in impound...No joke.....The public went nuts and the city found the bull a home on the plaza at Bowling Green....Where it has remained for nearly 30 years.....I support free speech even if I dislike the message, I have no problem with a statue of fearless girl even though I don't agree that women are playing at a disadvantage in the business world...In fact from my vantage point women are being promoted BECAUSE they are women and not in spite of that fact....But in any event..... Nobody should ever be allowed to censor someone else's art or steal their message..... Fearless girl, like many millennial women, can't stand on her own....She is pointless without a big bad villian to blame everything on....A statue of a little girl stirs zero emotion in the general public, but place her in front of the bull and criticize big, bad, unfair wall street and now you have a hit on your hands.....She tells the world "I have no message, I bring nothing to the table, but the bull is bad" .... Instead of celebrating the successes of so many women, they'd rather tear down the industry that keeps America Great...A sad microcosm of the world today.

'

Who OWN da chiefs ? Ownsa ownsa

Where did this Western PA town go ? We know the chiefs moved to Florida , but where's everyone else..... Abondend churches from the deer Hunter , the Polish, the Eastern Ukraine, the Christian and othodox....You left your symbols, and crucifixes and starving steelwork masses.....Que donde MF ?

When the whistle blows , it's quitting time.

You wanna know what's wrong with America? Turn on the TV for 20 minutes....No, not even the news of our mental case President accusing everyone of everything.....Just watch the commercials....Not so subtle trends of portraying white males as idiots and stymie nation as the bright, funny , hip 30 second hero...... Gone are the funny beer ads that celebrated alcohol with talking dogs, silly foreigners and general hilarity....... Replaced by an ungodly competition between the drug companies that want to convince us that if we have ever sneezed....We have some rare disease and that we should ask our doctor about their medicine.... Even tho the side effects are worse than the disease..... And on the other side of this life we have ads for lawyers, lawyers and more fucking lawyers.... Convincing us that somebody done did us wrong....And it's time to sue......What a canabilistic culture we live in.....20 minutes of TV , right before your eyes.

Title 9

Maybe there is a silver lining in all this nonsense.....Girls suing schools because they are not allowed to play on the boys basketball team.....A high school girl in Texas taking testosterone injections to become a man was forced to wrestle in the girls division and easily won a State Championship..... I think the answer is the immediate repeal of title 9..... Eliminate boys and girls teams in every sport..... Have one team with open competition for boys, girls, tranny's, dykes or homosexuals....Let the best athletes represent the school.....No quotas.....And immediately stop funding everyone else....... Sounds FAIR to me.

There will be blood

Tougher than a rattle snake....I survived an attempted assassination attempt... Similar to Kim Jung ills half brother......But Mary Kay s needles did not dethrone this king....I live to drink another day.

Modern technology

I must say I was impressed with the way the state officials in California sprung into action to prevent the Damm in Lake Oroville from collapsing and washing away 5 or 6 towns downstream....If you missed it, Google it.....Makes me proud to be an American.....Such innovative advancements in the year 2017.....They used a flying contraption that was able to hover over the break.....A helicopter I think it was called.....And they dropped burlap sacks filled with rocks into the gaping hole.......What will modern man think of next.

Lest we forget

It's a dangerous job , their struggle and sacrifice is real and underappreciated...And last week as storm ravaged our city another of their brethren laid down their lives for this great city..... Yes...I am talking about the doorman on the UES that died a gruesome death while shoveling..... A special collection will be taken at Sweater Nite this Sunday and My former head linesman Chaz Higgins and class of 79 alum Jimmy Holland will be laying a wreath outside the building on Behalf of an 19... Rest in peace Miguel Gonzalez.

Pardon me

No great surprise, but still kind of funny...68 year old Texas man, who was pardoned and released from prison by Barry Hussein as part of the good egg program; was shockingly arrested with 2 POUNDS of cocaine ( that's a lot) after a high speed chase in San Antonio.....Maybe Trump will pardon him next time.

Why the delay ?

So it's been about 10 hours since the attack in Quebec, we know that two people were arrested, prime Minister Trudeau went to the podium and declared this terrorism.....POS Deblasio stepped up Police patrols in New York , but no identity on the shooters.....Weird.

the sweater

so as I finalized my sweater selection for the upcomimg gala , I thought it would be fun to reflect back on my sweater choices over the past 18 years to the best of my recollection. SN 1 = Hartford Whalers (white) my house 107-73rd street............................................................................ SN 2 = Chicago Blackhawks (throwback white)PC's Pub.................................................................................. SN 3 = St Lawrence University ( Red) The Ridgebay.................................................................................... SN 4 = Toronto St Patricks( green throwback) Molloys................................................................................ SN 5 = Minnesota Wild ( Jim Dowd #34 white Jersey) The Jinx Club Furlongs............................................................ SN 6 = North Dakota Sioux ( white jersey) The Jinx Club Furlongs..................................................................... SN 7 = New York Rangers ( Jed #41 Blueshirt) The Jinx Club Furlongs.................................................................. SN 8 = Norway ( Ronnie #8 Red jersey ) The jinx Club Furlongs........................................................................ SN 9 = Boston College ( Kiwanuka #97 white ) K of C ...Coozie debut slogan = DRINK UP LADS........................................... SN 10 = Lowell University ( Kerouac #10 red jersey) K of C ...slogan VINI, VIDI, VIDRANK.............................................. SN 11 = Alaska ( powder blue jersey) K of C .....slogan DRINK HEAVILY................................................................ SN 12 = USA ( Kane # 88 navy blue jersey) PC's Pub....slogan DRINK LIKE AN OLYMPIAD................................................... SN 13 = Calgary Heritage ( Bouwmeester # 4) K of C ...slogan LUCKY 13 & MUY CHILLY BEERE............................................. SN 14 = Quebec Nordiques ( Wang #14 blue jersey) K of C ...slogan DRINK LIKE A WARRIOR & GERONIMO E-KIA............................... SN 15 = Chicago Blackhawks ( Mikita # 21 white jersey) k of C .....slogan 1999-2013................................................... SN 16 = Columbus Bluejackets ( Dubinsky # 17 sky blue throwback)....K of C..slogan SWEET 16, BOTTOMS UP, MARCH ON).................... SN 17 = Toronto Maple Leafs ( Clark # 17 blue winter classic jersey) PC's Pub...slogan 65 TURNS 50 & What a long strange trip its been SN 18 = Montreal Canadiens ( Beliveau #4 Red jersey) Lief & K of C .....slogan WE CAN BREATHE)........................................ SN 19 ????? ( # 19) LIEV ERICKSONS ....slogan BEEEER TRUMPS HOCKEY & SN 19th Nervous Breakdown

Rally, rally.....Casino hotel

Today in Zuccotti park, next to the bench with the bronze statue of a business man with his briefcase, there will be a THANK YOU rally in support of all the hardworking Wall Street types that have pushed the DOW over 20 fucking thousand.....Even the limousine liberals will smile today when they punch up their 401ks.....The rally will last approximately 90 seconds and be confined to that one single bench, flag burning, public urination and hanging the President in effigy will be frowned upon.......On behalf of the hardworking stiffs on my team, guys and gals trying to raise a family on 80k, with no pension , who pay into their health care and can be let go at the drop of a hat without so much as a months severance, I convey a hearty YOU ARE WELCOME AMERICA !

Ship of fools

Man's inhumanity towards fellow man continued well into the evening....With no trains whatsoever running , hurricane strength winds attacking, katrinaesque rain deluging the plains, we finally escaped from Jersey city on the last helicopter from Saigon.( Actually my waterways to Belford... Wherever the fuck that is).....I quietly drank my beer as the mighty ship was tossed around the narrows like a row boat in an angry sea.... Surely I thought the good Lord was done fucking with us for this evening when the unthinkable happened......The Bartender.... Arguably the most important man on the ship, got off at pier 11 and went home for the evening..... The next 55 tortoures minutes on the high seas were spent beerless.... Forced to suffer one last indignity.....The world is an ugly place.

woman is the nigger of the world

John Lennon said that, and I believe its true..... I sat with pride in my basement bar watching the news reels from Washington d.c. , so proud of these American women ( not the pro life ones, but that's another story) marching around the Capitol ; protesting the sexist President Regime on day 2 of his reign.....I wait with baited breath for the day that a Woman can become a doctor , or a lawyer or work on wall street or dare I say ....Run for Political office........or dare I really say accept the nomination of a Major party to run for the highest office in the land ....and also accept the questions for a major debate in advance of her opponent, stand silent as her party schemes to discredit her male opponent ( The Altacacca mister Bernie sanders) and be excused of crimes that MEN sit in Prison for committing....Yes, that is when we can all stop waiting to exhale and know that the buxom gender has indeed arrived...

hypocrisy....is a walk on a slippery rock

ok....so Edie Brickell was actually talking about PHILOSOPHY , but I couldn't find a lyric that circled around hypocrisy. I wont rehash the past 8 years.....just the most recent incident in the long winding road that leads to Russia....so....Obama was incensed with the evidence that Russia was behind the hacking of emails of the DNC that lead to exposing of some ugly truths about miss Hillary & co.........he expelled Russian diplomats and proposed financial sanctions......again these were private emails that were exposed.....nobody suggested they were fakes..........Bradley manning on the other hand published classified documents about battle plans that put the military in real jeopardy.......that offense ? not so bad.....he gets a pardon ......if he hadn't declared he was transgender and attempted suicide while in jail , does he still get a pardon ? just ask Petraus. Obama also pardoned Oscar lopez Rivera...the FALN founder that was linked to 100's of bomb attacks on US soil, including the one in lower Manhattan of Fraunces Tavern that killed 4 during lunch and wounded 50......yep, never forget, blah blah blah....... the whole premise of a Presidential pardon is OK.....just like the electoral College.....we wont hear the left complain until Trump leaves office and pardons a few folks, then all holy hell will break out. CIA head John Brennan has been very vocal in his opposition to PRESIDENT Trump, went public with his outrage when Trump questioned the intelligence community.....but when asked about his personal feeling about the spoonjiah get out of jail cards he suddenly had NO COMMENT........what about that famous letter from 100 members of the intelligence community that warned against Trump prior to the election ? did they write any letters warning of possible pardons to potentially dangerous people, or the freeing of Guantanimo prisoners ? nope....silence.... I had the unfortunate displeasure of watching the confirmation hearings yesterday while working from home......Bernie Sanders, Al Franken & company......they collectively reinforced there is no tolerance for any ideas or free thought that deviate from their own mantras......and yet they wonder why they are out of touch with voters......Trumps nominees showed great composure and class while being preached to by a pack of degenerates.... these are twisted times my friends......thank God for the diversion of the annual Sweater Nite Gala to restore some normalcy. Sweater pauses for a moment to remember Mary Duffy and ask that all my readers say a prayer for her and the extended Duffy family. Mrs Duffy was a Saint, plain and simple, no other way to describe her....despite all the hijinks and insanity that surrounded her she remained one of the most pleasant people you could ever encounter, if you met her on the Avenue, coming or going from Lento's or Rinzy's Steakhouse; you left feeling better....she was that nice of a lady......Rest in Peace Mrs Duff.

In Blog we trust

In these troubling times of FAKE news and false reporting and everyone and everything getting hacked....it must be very comforting to my loyal readers to know they can always turn to this blog for the truth.....for the truth shall set you free.........for the record, I am a trend setter, I was making up the news 20 years ago.... what took everyone so long to ketchup.......side note..... The Sweater Nite letters sb in the mail by Saturday.... The party is slated for Sunday afternoon February 19th at the original Liev Erickson bar...

Uncle Gordy

Bayridge is a strange terrain, with even stranger characters that have adorned her landscape over the years. Decades and probably centuries....... Gordon Contessa was a beauty...a lot of folks probably got their ass kicked by this assassin.....some friends were swindled out of nickels for his drug habbit....and some folks he didn't know were straight out robbed perhaps....but he was good hearted , tough, mental case ......he was one of the toughest toughest guys in Bayridge in his prime..... and not to sound like Sally field , but he really, really liked me.....I always knew I had a friend in Uncle Gordy.....the more Collins broke his balls, the more Gordy liked me.....I found him in liev Erickson Park once and brought him home to live over Napper's for a few weeks...he used to order pay per view movies and swear that they came on tv free....he got locked out once and climbed up the fire scape and banged on Seamus's Window to get in......but I helped him and he never forgot that.....he always told me that he had my back....and that meant something to me.....I haven't seen him in 2 years , but news of his passing makes me sad.....you weren't a great man Gordy....but none of us are....but I loved ya , and I miss you already.

Stark realities...part 99

Don't want to leave this world behind me now,.....don't want to move to the outskirts of town..... don't want to loose the comradery of my neighborhood bar......don't want to leave this world somehow......I have so many things I've yet to do..... places and people I need to see....a thousand sunrises of brand new days.... I pray they're waiting for me......Not sure whats lying around the bend....a little further down the road I guess....don't know what happens when the lights go out, but I pray it's for the best......Never made it to that special place, where dreams and wishes all come true......they say cream and bastards rise to the top , but it's a different path I've chosen for you.......I say my prayers for other people now , can't see the point in wasting your time, I hope someday we all meet again, but in a softer world next time....(w.Stark)

All the LIEFS are brown,and the sky is grey

Well....I may have been California dreaming during the rotisserie draft, but I showed the depths of my GM savvy by dismantling and rebuilding my roster in 2 leagues and rallying to make the playoffs in both.... playoffs? Playoffs ??.....that's right Jim Mora....Wassabi#9 ....and SMALL CHANGE are both going to the playoffs.... Thanks Jay Ajay and other late additions.

Rally round the troops Duff

Jet fans...... football fans.....the entire nation couldn't help but wince in pain at the embarrassing night at the meadowlands that was jets v colts 12/5/16.....the team that brought us the butt fumble and the fake spike....a litany of H.O.F. coaches like Kotite & Hermie Edwards..... the ones that got away like Carrol & Belicheat.....a team that mastered the draft with the picks of Ron Faurot , Blair Thomas, Kyle Brady, Johnny Lam Jones and Johnny Mitchell has sunken to an unimaginable new low.....it's not right.....it's not fair.....they need a boost....a metaphorical shot in the arm.....and I know just the man to do it....your favorite Battalion chief and mine needs to bleed green for j-e-t-s nation....and I know just the gesture....I call on you Mister Duffy to pick up Bryce (even the losers get lucky sometime) Petty in rotisserie football and start him this Sunday....who cares who you are playing ( Wasabi#9 for those keeping score at home) stand for the anthem and stand for the Jets......

Payback

And so 75 years have passed since the dirty yellow Japs executed a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, killing 2400 Americans.... despite all the horseshit that passes for "history" that is being force fed to kids in school... they thought that they had won the war that day.....they thought they had crushed the United States Navy and would enjoy Naval supremecy in the Pacific....they thought they would rain terror on the shipping lanes and soon it would be the Americans that would surrender....they were wrong..... The United States Navy collectively stood up , brushed off and went about the business of making America Great Again......and in the end.....when the yellow menace was forced to their tiny knees to beg for an end to the war...... fittingly it was onboard the USS Missouri that the agreed to an Unconditional surrender.....let's teach that lesson today... instead of apologizing for winning you self loathing miscreant spoonjiah.

A rifle on my shoulder , 6 shooter in my hand.

" Lord I've been all around this world"............and yesterday came a surprise phonecall from the suburbs of Mosul in the sandstorms of Iraq....from my original shipmate on the good destroyer Luce , who will not be named here for privacy protection.....and as we rehashed the olde and made plans for mugs raising in the future, he mentioned that he has been checking out the BLOG.......better than AFRTS.....sweater Nite now brings updates from the taverns to the troops on the Frontline.......as John Lennon would say " we're bigger than Jesus"............. And in the spirit of the military, a great story making the rounds about an American hero....Ray Chavez....he turns 104 tomorrow.....he is the oldest known living Navy survivor from the Pearl harbor attacks....he lives in San Diego and works out on a treadmill every week.....the other gym members raised money to send him to Hawaii for the 75th anniversary observance on tge 7th....he said he's excited to go , but worries that it could be his last time going...and then he laughs....he didn't talk about that day after....he only broke his silence on the 50th Anniversary.... because he thought it was important to talk about....that's an American.....that's a HERO...God Bless Ray Chavez....God Bless our U.S.A.

Everybody's trying.....to get to the BAR

The name of the bar ? The Bar is called Heaven ( d.byrne) It seems you can't even pop into a local watering hole on a Monday afternoon without meeting someone or hearing about someone that is battling cancer......was it always like this ? Or is this just a product of turning 50...... The scary part is the last 3 or 4 friends or acquaintance's that I have learned about have yet to celebrate their 50th Birthday... It's a painful reminder that nobody is guaranteed tomorrow....so if you feel like a drink today....take 2.....if you feel like playing hooky...pick up the phone....work hard so you can afford to play harder.....that's my message to the graduating class of 2017.....also be alert.....we need more lerts...

Now everything's a little upside down

As a matter of fact, the wheels have stopped.whats good is bad, what's bad is good, you'll find out when you reach the top..... you're on the bottom.....B.Dylan. And so as President elect Trump goes about the business of making America Great Again, the left has....well..... The left has lost its fargin mind..... students walking out of class in high school, College Professors turning lessons into bitch and venting sessions.... cancelling mid terms because students are too traumatized to study....nightly protests over the results of a fair election.... demands to eliminate the electoral college system....if the RIGHT had behaved this was after emperor spoonjiah rose to Powe, they would be labeled Racists...( When Obama received 94% of the black vote , that was ok.....when white males voted for Trump they were racist, sexist homophobes.)...... Hillary wasn't even finished destroying the furniture in her election night hotel when the left vowed to fight everything Mr. Trump wanted to do.....sad sacks... crybabies....sore losers......Harry piece of shit Reid said it's not right that white nationalists are celebrating the election while undocumented immigrants are crying in the street....look it up, he really said that.... amazing.......let's form a search party to help them "find" their documents......there is a movement to get Obama to pardon Hillary, so Trump can't throw her in jail..... I mention all this so that it is documented for eternity.....in the year 3013.....when Brian Duffy's great, great, great, great grandson " Jebediah Budvizer Duffy" is studying the blog in his social studies class at Trump University ( to be built on the sprawling developments that were once the isle of Staten Dump)he will have proof of the Insanity that was 2016..........." Hey Moe....where can I get a sweatshirt from Trump University" said Dan Woods from the Beanpost window.

Productive day

I spent election day in the backyard, drinking FOUNDERS all day IPA ..... literally all day..... listening to rock n roll, basking in the high 60's glorious sunshine and quite frankly worrying about the future of this great nation....I feared the Clinton mafia family would steal this election...and the dire ramifications that we would endure.. I questioned where I fit in a land willing to elect this murderous, treacherous criminal...... I talked aloud to my faithful dog Matteau..... thankfully he did not talk back...so I didn't pull a Berkowitz..... I thought a lot about the past....and analyzed where it all went wrong.....we had Dykstra and Mookie.....we traded them both and we got stuck with Juan Samuel....we let STRAW walk in free agency and failed to get anything in return for DOC Gooden....and that my friends is why the 86 Mets never won again........then I woke up and TRUMP was President and Hilary didn't have the decency to address her followers in the Javetts center....she had podesta send them home.

Tuesday, afternoon, I'm just beginning to see, Now I'm on my way, It doesn't matter to me, Chasing the clouds away.......

the votes are in

it's official......i'm drinking on Tuesday........vote...walk dog.....golf....DRINKING during all of the above.....it's probable that al queda or someone equally sinister will be plotting to disrupt the election...a good day to avoid planes, trains and shopping malls.

The big drop is COMEYing

I have been pretty harsh when it comes to judging FBI director James Comey for his handling of crooked hellary and the email non-indictment.....so I was equally surprised when he notified Congress that he was reopening the investigation last Friday ( 11 days before the election)....so as I sat in the yard drinking beer with my dog, I pondered why he would do that.....and then it came to me...if wiki leaks hacked into everyone and anyone on the Democrats team....fm podesta, to brazille to Wasserman-schultz....they probably took a crack at Huma and Weiner Dog...... sooooo....they probably have ALL these "new" emails......and sooooo they are probably gonna drop an email cache anyday now...... Comey knows it....and .he didn't want to be criticized for sitting on the emails in the wake of their disclosure.....he probably figures Assange is gonna release them anyway, let me save face and go public that they exist.....the only question is when are they released and what do they contain ? Could they be the missing exchanges between Hillary and Ambassador Stevens ?.........one last thing.....can you imagine if wiki leaks releases a fake email on Monday....no time to vett , verify or confirm its legit..... Hillary would go apeshit insisting it's a fabrication ( and rightfully so) but seriously....who would believe her at this point? ...... I should have been a villian instead of the GOOD GUY that I am...... I have dastardly ideas aplenty.

Casey Baez

Oh, somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright...a band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light...and somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout.....but there is no joy in Wrigley......The Mighty Baez has struck out.

Ain't no time to hate.... barely time to wait.

So , I saw a Facebook post by Bob Weir last night ...which; in and of itself is pretty weird, but Mr Weir was asking deadheads to still believe in a democracy and to still participate by voting in the next election......and I thought of all the slings and arrows shot at the Dead and their followers over the years by various establishments, authority figures and local politicians for being drug taking vagrants and a blight on polite society....and here in this most uncivil of elections this country has ever seen, was the cofounder of the Grateful Dead trying to restore order and reinforce faith in our transitions of power.....and in reality, the finest examples of our country's values that I have experienced in my time on earth were the years I spent in the NAVY and countless sojourns in the good company of Deadheads at a show.....one common mission.... nobody being judged by the color of their skin , their hometown, their financial status, their religion....never made to feel uneasy for my personal beliefs ( except for when Phil Lesh was insisting that everyone become an organ donor...but I digress)..... I guess the point is that we all have a right to vote, and we should exercise that, encourage our neighbor to do the same and let it be.......a very interesting side bar.....the Deadheads that replied to Bob were 75% anti Hilary for stealing the nomination from Bernie.....not so much anti Trump...... I think a lot of the assumed votes for Hilary will not show up or will vote for Gary Johnson.... we'll see.

I wanna be elected...

So I woke today with that great Alice Cooper song in my head...."I'm your Yankee Doodle Dandy in a gold Rolls Royce....I wanna be selected...... we'll Rock to the rules that I make...I'm gonna be elected".......oh if only a fine upstanding citizen like Mr Alice Cooper was on the ballot........ anyway I digress.....you know I am always on guard against something, always trying to anticipate and prepare for the worst and so I switched hats.... looked at this election from our enemies side.....this has been the ugliest, devisive and unsettling election that I can remember......and no matter the results, a lot of people are going to be more than upset with the result.... despite crooked Hilary and her pandering, she sure as hell isn't going to be quick to accept the results if she looses.....and we know Team Trump will not go quietly into that good night.....there is a real potential for violent protests from both sides.....so how can our enemies exploit that ?? By planting seeds of doubts......power outages, cyber attacks, false reports of voter tampering....it's pretty easy with the knee jerk media to start a tsunami of wildly false reporting....it happens naturally during every disaster.....can you imagine if it's preplanned and well prepared ?........ I just might take off election day and drink beer with my dog and listen to rock n roll......... kind of like every other Tuesday.

Everybody braggin

And drinking that wine , I can tell the Queen of diamonds by the way she shines.... come to daddy on an inside straight, cause I got NO CHANCE of losing this time...........that might be what the witch Hilary and the Donald are thinking to themselves as they wake up in Vegas this morning before the final debate....but someone will indeed lose in a few short weeks......ya know the old Irish folklore and a great many of the doomsday Cults around the world have long prophesized that the Devil is in the women and the anti Christ will take the form of a woman.....perhaps the moral decay of this country the past 50 years has brought us to the point of electing the Antichrist Hilary to end the world...... I would almost welcome that as an alternative to 4 years of watching her dismantle this great republic one step at a time.........as for the Donn.....my advice to him.....is to appeal to the public as the Great Outsider.....the anti establishment.....it may be too late , but he should remind the country that both the Democrats and a large portion of his own party are against him.....he should show himself to be human....make light of his situation and summarize that he must be doing something RIGHT is both corrupt parties are against him.......I skipped the first two....but I plan on watching tonight..... cause I got no chance of losing this time.

And the Nobel prize goes to ?

Bob Dylan..... I could fill a blog with thousands of quotes from his Majesty , but alas I will refrain at this time.... instead I will just rehash one of the simplest, but also one of my favorites....." The Sun ain't yellow....it's chicken "…........... classic Dylan. Anyway I have been silent for far too long on this pos kappernick and his sitting or kneeling during the National Anthem.... what is he protesting ? Racial inequality ? He's right.... The blacks get a disproportionate amount of hand-outs and advancement without merit through affirmative action....it's ironic that NOW after 8 years with a black president he decides to protest....why the anthem ? Because his protest isn't really a protest , but rather a cry for attention because he lost his job as starting QB..he had no problem with the world when he was starting QB , but loose your job to a white man ? Shit...I needs to come up with something to stay in the limelight..let's blame society for all my problems, let's rally the everyday sambo on the street and the black olives movement to my side.......funny that he had no problem cashing those checks from the evil White bastard owners of the 49ers when he was the starter...and the great spoonjiah says he's just exercising his constitutional rights.... nobody was disputing that..but it's a forced demonstration that is impeding on my right to honor and respect my nation.....you want to protest outside city hall everyday ? Go right ahead.....but so can the Ku Klux Klan when they March down main Street...they have the same constitutional rights...does that make it okay spoony ?....... A few months back I called for Mr Comey , the acting head of the FBI to resign......now comes an admission that State Dept Honcho Kennedy....a Hillary underling .....lobbied hard and made special offers to the FBI to declassify Hillary's emails.....I think if you or I were stopped for speeding ( or more likely DUI ) and we offered the policeman something in return for lessening the charge to a busted tail light, we would now be facing bribery charges......but not team Hillary...... comey says there was no product quo pro , but what else do you expect them to say ? Yes, we did it...... again....the word of the accused is not gospel......but we now have a corrupt department of Justice, a corrupt FBI and a corrupt former Secretary of state in cahoots , but we can't accept Trump's low gutter boasts to impress Billy Bush 11 years ago............and the Iranian backed Rebels in Yemen are firing on our Navy.....shhh.....I find humor in everything, but sadly the consequences are becoming to grave to laugh........... except for the story about a guy in Half-moon NY that was high on LSD and broke into his neighbor's house to rescue their Dog from a horrific fire......first be banged on all the neighbors doors....but nobody would help....so he drove his truck through the fence and broke into the house.....he was waiting proudly with the rescued Pooch in his arms when Police arrived.....by now you should have guessed that there was NO FIRE......God I miss taking LSD.

The friendly confines

Way to go TV.....the Cubs hosting two playoff games in the October Sun.... against either the heated rival NY Mets or 100 year foe the GIANTS....NY or California TV audience....this game will draw big ratings no matter what......can't wait,................................. Friday's first pitch 9:15 Eastern . Saturday 8:08 p.m........... ridiculous

the vice presidential debates

so I caught a little piece last night on the evening news about the history of the VP debates, and once again the media portrayed Vice Admiral Stockdale ( Ross Perots' running mate) as a buffoon.......remember Saturday night live mocking him to no end because of his opening remarks at that one debate ...."who am I ? , what am I doing here?".........I thought maybe 24 years later, and 10 + years after his death that they may give him a fair shake....but nope......still the object of mockery ......how much better we all are than him.....that silly little man with the limp.........heres a snippet from his wikpedia page.....just another war hero unmercifully mocked for his sacrifice......he went on to be President of the Naval war College.......received every possible award for his military service and wrote 5 books about his time in a Noth Vietnam prison and the Stockdale idealogy on how to survice an insufferable situation in captivity......a real dope. On 9 September 1965, while flying from USS Oriskany on a mission over North Vietnam, Stockdale ejected from his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, which had been struck by enemy fire and completely disabled. He parachuted into a small village, where he was severely beaten and taken prisoner. Stockdale was held as a prisoner of war in the Hoa Lo prison (the infamous "Hanoi Hilton") for the next seven and a half years. As the senior Naval officer, he was one of the primary organizers of prisoner resistance. Tortured routinely and denied medical attention for the severely damaged leg he suffered during capture, Stockdale created and enforced a code of conduct for all prisoners which governed torture, secret communications, and behavior. In the summer of 1969, he was locked in leg irons in a bath stall and routinely tortured and beaten. When told by his captors that he was to be paraded in public, Stockdale slit his scalp with a razor to purposely disfigure himself so that his captors could not use him as propaganda. When they covered his head with a hat, he beat himself with a stool until his face was swollen beyond recognition. When Stockdale was discovered with information that could implicate his friends' "black activities", he slit his wrists so they could not torture him into confession. Early in Stockdale's captivity, his wife, Sybil Stockdale, organized The League of American Families of POWs and MIAs, with other wives of servicemen who were in similar circumstances. By 1968, she and her organization, which called for the President and the U.S. Congress to publicly acknowledge the mistreatment of the POWs (something that had never been done despite evidence of gross mistreatment), gained the attention of the American press. Sybil Stockdale personally made these demands known at the Paris Peace Talks. Stockdale was one of eleven prisoners known as the "Alcatraz Gang": George Thomas Coker; George McKnight; Jeremiah Denton; Harry Jenkins; Sam Johnson; James Mulligan; Howard Rutledge; Robert Shumaker; Ronald Storz; and Nels Tanner. These individuals had been leaders of resistance activities while in captivity and thus were separated from other captives and placed in solitary confinement. "Alcatraz" was a special facility in a courtyard behind the North Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense, located about one mile away from Hoa Lo Prison. In Alcatraz, each of the prisoners was kept in an individual windowless and concrete cell measuring 3 by 9 feet (0.9 by 2.7 m) with a light bulb kept on around the clock, and they were locked in leg irons each night.[11][12][13][14][15] Of the eleven, Storz died in captivity there in 1970. In a business book by James C. Collins called Good to Great, Collins writes about a conversation he had with Stockdale regarding his coping strategy during his period in the Vietnamese POW camp......I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade. When Collins asked who didn't make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied: Oh, that's easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, 'We're going to be out by Christmas.' And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they'd say, 'We're going to be out by Easter.' And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart. Stockdale then added: This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

Driving that train

Tommy Gallagher you better watch your speed.......not a laughing matter....just another attempt on my life by isis and their sympathizers....me and Donnie beisbol narrowly escaped death....again.....sadly Donnie's new cooler bag ( a back to work gift from his gym buddies at retro fitness....things won't be the same without Donnie hanging round the gym all summer getting fit as a fiddle ).....but the cooler bag tipped over and 4 tallboy spilled out onto the platform..... Donnie was inconsolable.....3 unrelated tall boys were found packed in ice in the first black box.... apparently being used as a cooler........ anyway....today marks the 5th full day since the accident and they still have yet to access the lead car, the drivers cab or the 2nd black box.... that's embarrassing and unacceptable....I walked past the station yesterday.....it was quieter than the library.... nothing going on but the rent...... guess I will be riding the Marrakesh express ( path) for a while....

Veto override

So why was the POTUS so adamant about blocking the bill that would allow 9/11 families to sue foreign governments for state sponsored terrorism that kills or injures American citizens ? .....and no....it's not because he fears it puts our troops in jeopardy like he says.....that's downright laughable to suggest he has sleepless nights worrying about our troops.......my guess is that the President who has used 10 times as many drone strikes as any other President..... Drone strikes that have killed many innocent bystanders.... drone strikes that have killed even U.S. citizens that were fighting with ISIS...... maybe POTUS is worrying about his legacy if lawsuits start rolling in for the next 10 years as the families of the people his drone strikes killed start suing the U.S. Government........that could put a damper on his Nobel Peace prize.

Off topic part 2

Knapsacks or backpacks depending on where your from....they are okay.... BUT.....you must carry by the top handle OR at the very least with just one strap over the shoulder.....under no circumstance whatsofuckinever should a grown man put both arms through the straps .......who do you think you are nerd ? James friggin panos ? ......what are meeting your Sherpa guide to go climb Mt Everest ? Stop it immediately........that is all.

The devil's in the women,

And they never can be easy....that's an olde Irish saying...it surely applies to Hillary rotten...... I know I have blogged about this before, but it warrants repeating...ever notice how when she walks onto the stage at a rally or a debate she immediately makes eye contact with an imaginary person in the audience and smiles and waves like she just saw her long lost best friend holding a puppy....it's hard to miss....watch for it next time....it's staged and rehearsed to make her look human , but to anyone paying attention it's more robotic and fake.....watch her point to the crowd and give a wave or a thumbs up.

For every action.....a reaction

Not that I expect the media to ever talk about this , but I wonder just the same. How many people do you think will be shot by police as a indirect result of the Dallas Sniper ? ...........Scott Pelley will never talk about it, but if I were a Police Officer......and society can exhale that I am not.....but if I were....would I approach every traffic stop.....every call for domestic abuse....every 911 response as a possible setup....and that I could be lured I to a trap to be executed by black olives matter ?.....you better believe I would....and I am fairly certain that every cop on the beat in every city has the Dallas and Baton Rouge executions of their brethren in the back of their minds.....

Can't seem to face up to the facts....

I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax ( David Byrne-psycho killer).... Kidding of course.... I am fine....but it's obvious what's happening.....the arabs, those slimy sand Jiggs that have been trying to kill me for the past 30 some odd years.....they must be pissed when they heard the news that I flew home from the coast and they missed their chance to kill me.....and so they really stepped up their game and made it personal......first they bomb a 5k down the shore ( a race I very well could have been running) and now they bomb my train line.....wtf......if O'Hara's on Marin Blvd or Branigans in Red Bank should explode....well you know.......for the record.....in case they hacked into this blog.....I'll be spending my free time as usual in the library or at the orphanage teaching lefties how to throw, write and succeed with their right hands...... Slainte.... .. writing this from the coastline train....takes more than a pipe bomb to stop NJT......only an inch of rain or slippery leaves can grind this machine to a halt.

Lowest level of pond scum

So....it's now clear....that these low life's will attack a small town 5k race that honors the U.S. Marine corps......if you didn't see it....a series of pipe bombs were planted along the route in seaside NJ at the semper Fi run.....I wish these sand Jiggs would just show up once without assault weapons or leaving backpacks and running for their mommies.....be men.... challenge the people that you obviously hate...prove to us how tough you are instead of hiding behind your bombs..... dirtbag coward's....that's all they are.....I wonder if this was a test run before the Tunnel to Towers....let's hope NYC sets attendance records for that race to show we'll never be intimidated.

a-c-t-.....i-o-n.......action, action, ACTION

horrific story out of brentwood long island......two 15 year old girls beaten to death.....apparent gang related incident.....the black lives matter movement immediately mobilized and called for action.....massive demonstrations and a historic march.....they are focusing their anger on two white male police officers in Peoria Illinois who were apparently on a coffee break in dunkin donuts at the time of the attack........film at eleven.

russia revisit

as jim Morrison used to say.....weird scenes inside the gold mine......the curious case of the soviet union.....friend or foe ? well that depends on which way the wind is blowing if you are president spoonjiah, aka barry Hussein & friends....... let's go back to circa 2010 when barry was caught on a hot microphone telling Vladimir putin " I will have greater flexibility in my 2nd term"......I guess Putin was his pal and he was telling me once I no longer have any elections to win, my true colors will shine and I can do whatever I want buddy.........Russia = friend................................................................ During the Presidential debates in 2012.....when Mitt Romney said the greatest threat/concern to U.S. foreign policy was Russia...Obama chuckled and reverted to sophomoric humor and replied (in a televised debate no less) "The 1980's called and they want their foreign policy back" and all the frat boys and teenage girls giggled......the media loved it........Russia = good friend............................................. june 2014.....Russia invades the Ukraine, blocks the shipping lanes and shoots down 2 aircraft.........white house says that's unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated..........Russia = bad.......................................................... August 2014......when Obama and Kerry declared that Assad must go for crossing the line in the sand and gassing his own people......Obama and Kerry both said they would take assad out with or without a coalition and Russia better not intervene to save their puppet regime........Russia = bad............................................................... summer 2015........Russia starts bombing isis in Syria.....Russia = good. uh-oh wait....Russia is bombing the rebels that we trained in Syria......Russia = not so good................................... Trump praises putin........Russia = evil......................................................................... DNC computers hacked by someone....DNC blames Russia........Russia = evil times 2........................................... DNC & Hillary say Russia is hacking computers to uncover real emails to help trump....Russia = Lucifer....Dwight Gooden says no...Darryl Strawberry is Lucifer.............................................. yesterday.....Kerry and Obama reach a deal with Russia for a ceasefire in Syria ....Russia = BFF.....yaaa Russia. give it a month , the pendelum will swing back. it was heartwarming to see barry in philly yesterday .back on the campaign trail stumping for hillary...sleeves rolled up.....talking like a street hood to his peeps......he's black again and loving it.........

Comey should resign

Breitbart news is reporting that James comey sits on the board of HSBC bank, a huge contributor to the Clinton foundation.....in a world where nothing surprises anymore....this to me is unbelievable....can this be true ? ......they go on to say he earned 6 million in one year at Lockheed Martin..... The same year they began contributing to ? You guessed it....the Clinton foundation.....they then pointed out that James comeys' brother peter is a lawyer.....and his law firm files the taxes for ? Yep.... The Clinton foundation...... anybody still think the Clinton foundation is under a real investigation ? If the top cop in the land is dirty , there is no hope for justice......James comey won't....but he should.....resign.

15 years

so....here we are again....15 years later.....I had a very emotional last 30 days....I got on a plane, I was forced to examine my life and ponder what my impact had been if I were to die on my way home from California...I put the first 36 years of my life under one microscope and the last 15 under a very different lens......because I have lived 2 lives....just like everyone else I suppose....I knew in the first 24 hours that I would never get the old me back, that I would never be allowed to look at life the way I had before....for better or worse, the first 36 years were history and I was on a much different path....despite a quicker temper, less tolerance, heightened feelings of abandonment or betrayal ( real or imaginary doesn't matter in the moment)....despite all that , I think ive done okay......I manage to put on a smile and go about my business most days.....I find amusement in everything to maintain my sanity and I manage to hide my breakdowns/meltdowns etc etc from the general public, my dog Gravey was the only one who saw me at my lowest points, and she helped me smile and laugh again.........I manage to detach myself when talking about that day....I can tell a brief story without really going there in my head....and that's key....because sometimes when I least expect it, someone will want to talk about it and that's never easy.......and sometimes......very rarely.....when I least expect it.....something comes back and I want to talk about it.......so I sit here this morning.......very close to 8:44......and the reading of the names....i'll mute the TV soon......but I think the hardest thing after all these years is guilt......guilt that I was so excited and relieved to escape what felt like certain death.....guilt to feel such an inner happiness as I walked in the door that night despite not knowing how many thousands of people and friends were dead.......it's normal, but it aint fun........for an irish storyteller like myself , this should be my greatest tale.....it should be my go to cocktail hour story...embellishing the details with each telling, but for this greates story ever told , there is no happy ending, no punchline,and I can't tell it..... I am eternally grateful to have survived, but am still haunted by the guilt........if you are reading this....God Bless, stay well.

Deplorable

So.....madam Secretary, hellary rotten Clinton says that half of the Trump supporters belong in the deplorable bucket....you do the math....they are in a dead heat....50/50....so she is saying that 25℅ of the United States citizenry is deplorable....hmm......but like Barry Hussein she says she is a unifier...she wants to be the president for all the people.....but she Finds approximately 80 MILLION of us deplorable.....so we're racist islamaphobes because we are leery , suspicious and fearful of the religion of peace that continues to kill innocent people around the globe.....but she's a progressive because she Finds us deplorable ? Wow.... must be the new math....I wish the liberals would just admit that they hate conservative America and her values, and like their muslin friends, wish to exterminate us.....maybe hellary can be a trend setter........................p.s. the vacation is over.....back to the business of exposing the world to my loyal readers.

Off topic

But I fuckin hate these young fucking dudes who wear grey ,black or whatever colored socks with shorts and sneakers...... I want to kill them , just like 5th grade gym class.....white six or no socks ( if your really stoned) but never ever black or grey.

The long and winding road

Thus begins the Bataan death March across the country on Amtrak..... through the desert we go..... won't be as many pictures and posts on this ride home....I'm exhausted.

All the years combine

And they melt into a dream.(Garcia/hunter)….....today , after all these years; my oldest brother Jay's beautiful daughter Arielle is getting married....I know he'll be looking down at all of us , but I sure wish he could be here in person....we will have laughs , and fun and drinks.....but it would have been twofold if he was here....but that's life , you never know when your time is up , it sounds cliché....but live each day as though it were your last.....the last time I saw him was at my brother Brian's wedding on October 24th 1986....I was home on leave..... I went back to the Navy and did not return until I came back for his funeral....so today we celebrate a beginning for Arielle & Daniel.....with one eye on the future and one on the past.

Rehearsal dinner

Not that I need to rehearse when it comes to drinking.....but I follow the rules..... beautiful restaurant... literally on Zuma Beach.

You can take us out of Brooklyn

But you can't teach a man to fish....or lead a horse to water.....or drink like a fish....yes I'll have another....2 birds are worth more than a few stones...ah...you can never take Brooklyn out of US.

What a beautiful morning.

think I'll go outside a while, and jus smile ( Felix cavaliere )......up at 5:00.....1 mile walk along ocean to diner , nice breakfast..chorizo & avocado w mozzarella omelette..... another walk along pier.....dip in the hotel pool and a few beers before 9:00...ah vacation.... sweet California.

Santa Monica

The Promised Land

I feel like Chuck Berry...who left his home in Norfolk Virginia on a jet to the promised land....and now I'm here..... CALIFORNIA.....the end of the continent....no more land to traverse....the great Pacific Ocean....I walked down the Santa Monica incline and thought of Spencer Tracy and it's a mad mad world....but I didn't find the BIG W.....I sat on the pier and sipped GOLDEN ROAD IPA and looked up the coast to Malibu.... reunited with my darling wife who just flew in from Newark ( and yes , her arms are tired).....had lunch with my Godson and his lovely wife , walked the beach took it all in...my journey is already a success....I remember my niece worrying that I might not make it to the wedding if it was in California, but it was never in doubt.... that's what family is all about.....no hill too high to climb.....no bridge too far....big day tomorrow....The Coliseum, Griffiths Observation, Santa Anita and los dodgers estadium...

Raton

I accidentally deleted the Raton pics FM yesterday.

Well the sun went down in honey

And the moon came up in wine, the Stars were dancing dizzy and the band kept us so busy, we forgot about the time.....yes , there is a Dead lyric for everything

3 days in the saddle, you my body hurt

And I tried to wash off some of that dusty dirt..... I have a newfound appreciation for the lyrics to all those cowboy dirges that mister Weir has been singing all these years....." Clouds so low, the eagles fill the sky.....this rode from Raton into Arizona is vast and unforgiving....you could probably hide here for 100 years and nobody would know....here are a few shots of new Mexico and Arizona.....I walked around Albuquerque and bought a bottle of local wine..... haven't seen any grapes though.... maybe it's cactus juice.

The Ranch store has it all

yer darn tooting it does.....why just look at the sign... whether you need a PLOW or a COFFIN you can get one in Raton, New Mexico.....I even found the White House saloon....sadly it was closed.....no rattlesnakes MN thank God...but this is a scene out of the 1800's or the Gold RUsh days.... thankfully these scenes from Americana remain unchanged.

The road to Acapulco is very hard indeed, and it isn't any better if you haven't any weed.

Well....I'm not quite like the New Riders heading to Acapulco in a pickup truck with Henry at the wheel.....but I did leave Denver at 5:00 a.m. on a greyhound bus headed to Raton, New Mexico to make my connection with the Amtrak Southwest Chief....still very much in awe of this country... I have seen the pictures, but they do not do reality justice.....this is Pikes Peak in Colorado springs.

Things to do in Denver

So day two brought a bus tour to Red Rocks amphitheatre and the foothills of the Rockies..... breathtaking.....ours is a blessed land..... America has so much fertile land and beauty...and I had the best burger of my life in the Chophouse &. Brewery... across FM Coors Field.... bartender told me she worked the Broncos team private party after they won the Super bowl....so I asked if the Avalanche had a team party there after they won the Stanley Cup....she didn't know...she was only 3years old when they won....boy do I feel old....but alas I must be fair to my readers of this blog.....all 3 of you.... although I may have added one or two with this travel journal.....for you new readers.... anything sexist, racist or politically incorrect was written by Valerie or Gravey..... but I digress....the Thorny side to this Denver Rose , and it pains me to admit....but the homeless hobos are loosing their fucking minds with this legal...POTENT marijuana.....every street corner has wackos screaming at the sky, or curled up sleeping in urine or vomit....they can't handle it....the bartender in Grimaldi's tonight (Courtney) told me drug overdoses are skyrocketing and EMS calls to deal with people freaking out are taxing the system beyond its means.......it was very strange to walk down the street and smell really fine weed being smoked practically EVERYWHERE..... can't wait to come back when I'm retired or hit the lotto.