Message Forum

Jim, Mike, and both Joe's (and any live person bored enough to still be reading this column),

I guess I owe you some thanks for puting a proper scientific name to what I myself refer to as "brain farts". And you seem to imply, a connection between this phenomenon and the human aging process. Like a car, or your refrigerator, or your lawn mower, the parts just seen to wear out over time.

But if I had known the process of aging would be this confounding and troublesome, I would have opted to go through it years ago.

09/16/24 01:06 PM

#14418

John Maxwell

To all you who fear aging. Get over it. Embrace the joy of being nearer to thy God. Otherwise it sounds like a lot of complaints that seem to be falling on deaf ears. My cat has fleas. I don't hear her complaining. But I empathize with her. Why? Because if she has them, then I have them as well. The only comfort I have is I believe Winter is on its way and the fleas will head south.

New expression, "AI that!"

Just remember, your last words may be some lousy complaint. So ask yourself, "Is this how I want to be remembered?"

I was once on an airplane landing at LaGuardia when just as we touched down, the pilot, without warning, yanked the yoke and pulled up landing gear deployed the flaps and we soared at almost a vertical arc. All I could hear was a collective "OH SHIT!!" from virtually everyone near me. Everyone held their breath as we continued to climb, then as we leveled off the Captain came on the intercom and begged our forgiveness for the lack of warning. I guess there was some confusion on the runway. Funny no one complained. As we heaved a collective sigh of relief.

09/17/24 04:11 PM

#14419

Joseph D. McCarthy

Mike I wan't you to know that NO Cheques or Checks were killed or injured in making this notice.

09/19/24 12:27 PM

#14420

Aging

Remember that old Neil Sedaka song, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"? Well, at our age, I find that "waking up" is the hard thing to do.

When I was in practice my alarm was set for 0330 and I was able to crawl out of bed by about 0345. Every work day I would shower and shave, dress to include a tie, Janet would eat breakfast with me and then I'd drive the 20 or so miles to Ft. Carson. That was just my routine and I really didn't think much about it.

I am still, by some standards, an early riser (about 0730 ) but it takes me a lot of time to move around (my "gel" time) due to those aches and pains of aging. I suspect many, perhaps most, if not all, of us experience this.

As winter approaches and those frigid morning temperatures make retrieving the morning newspaper an awesome task, I often look back to those days when I thought nothing of shoveling the snowy driveway before leaving for work.

But now I can sip some coffee in my blue jeans, read that morning paper, let that gel time resolve and when the snow is falling, say "what a beautiful morning it is". Maybe it will melt or evaporate by the afternoon.

Yeah, perhaps aging isn't all that bad!

Jim

09/21/24 01:30 PM

#14421

Speaking of aging, as a kid I followed Major League Baseball like an addict. I followed certain players in great detail. I checked the box scores every day and calculated batting averages and pitchers ERA's (earned run averages). I had several favorite players. I practically worshipped Ernie Banks of the Cubs. I also loved Hank Aaron, and Harmon Killebrew. I followd the Coumbus Jets players who went up to Pittsburgh. But I loved pitchers the most - namely Bob Gibson of the Cardinals and Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers.

But over the years my interest waned until I have reached the point where I barely know what is going on or who is making Baseball news.

But I can't ignore a current phenomenon tha has unfolded this year. I don't think we wil live to see anything that matches the 30 year old Japanese Dodger star Shohei Ohtani. His record this year (50 home runs and 50 stolen bases) includes a single game two nights ago that many are saying is the greatest performance in a single game - ever.

He hit 3 home runs among his 6 hits for the night and stole 2 bases. And I keep reminding myself that he has let go of his other major skill - pitching - at which he was terriffic until last year.

Note: the historic game was the night before this broadcast

09/21/24 08:03 PM

#14422

How d'ya like that!

I was hoping to watch a track meet between Thee Ohio State Buckeyes and "We Are Marshall" (the Thundering Herd), and lo and behold, a football game broke out.

09/23/24 11:50 PM

#14423

As a writer I am proud of what our generation contributed to the beauty of the english language with phrases such as:

"Come-a come-a down doobie-doo down down, come-a come-a down doobie doo down down."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbad22CKlB4

09/24/24 08:21 PM

#14424

Mike,

I couldn't agree more. You go with your "English Major" bad self

09/25/24 01:35 PM

#14425

Dave: Don't thank me thank jim for reminding me of that awful song lyric

09/25/24 06:15 PM

#14426

Mark Schweickart

Ultra Mini Reunion -- Jack Maxwell blew into town (L.A.) the other day, and he and I spent the better part of two days together. He has three sons living here, so I get to see him every once in a while when he comes to visit them. We had a great time elaborately reminiscing about this, that, and the other thing of times gone by. Stupidly neither of us thought to take a selfie of the two of us to verify our rendezvous. Maybe next time. On the other hand, since mirrors and photos are not our friends these days, maybe it's just as well that we missed the selfie opportunity.

Dave -- I was planning to answer Mike's comment by putting up that same video of "Who Put the Bomp," but you beat me to it. So here's one of the songs referenced in that one, "Rama Lama Ding Dong." This one always make me wonder how the girlfriend being sung about could have had such a bizarre name. And in the song itself, it is even more bizarrely delivered as "Rama Lam Lama Lama Ding Dong." Go figure. But it's a fun song from our past, to be sure.

09/25/24 07:02 PM

#14427

Witch Doctor

"Ooo eee ooo ah ah, ting tang walla walla bing bang" .

JIm

09/25/24 07:57 PM

#14428

Trump Says He Will Be Too Senile to Debate in Late October

Mark,

What a great find. These guys seem to predate anything I can remember from MoTown or even earlier days of the "doo-wap" sound.

09/26/24 10:03 AM

#14429

John Jackson

Latest from the Borowitz Report:

PALM BEACH (The Borowitz Report)—Explaining his claim that a second debate with Kamala Harris would be “too late,” Donald J. Trump said on Thursday that he expects to be “way too senile” by the end of October.

“People are saying that they can’t understand a thing I’m saying, and, quite frankly, neither can I,” he said. “I’m like RFK Jr. on steroids.”

“I have the most amazing dementia in the history of dementia,” he boasted. “I’m winning at dementia.”

Trump predicted that, were he to participate in a late October debate, “That thing I said about ‘they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the dogs’ will seem like the Gettysburg Address.”

“Besides, I don’t need to debate, because I already have the support of the Black Nazis,” he added. “I’ve done more for Black Nazis than any president in history.”

09/26/24 03:24 PM

#14430

Jim: Thanks a lot. As if I needed to be humbled once again, fifty years of banging my head against the keyboard and trying to overcome my fears and convince myself that I've got what it takes -- and then comes the inevitable tug of gravity and the cold realization that, try as I may, I'll never write anything nearly as memorable as those few words you quote below.

09/26/24 09:41 PM

#14431

Harris’s Economic Plan Is Bidenomics II - WSJ

Baby Talk

Wordsmith Mike,

"Bah, bah, bah, um dab, um dab, um dab, um dab, I am only five years old and my baby's three."

Talk about raiding the cradle!

And you wonder why I like Country Music (even when youdeling was in vouge).

Jim

09/27/24 02:39 PM

#14432

John Schaeufele

Harris is Bidenomics 2.0.

The Vice President lays out 82 pages of more spending, more taxes, more regulation, more government.

09/27/24 05:51 PM

#14433

John Jackson

All recent Presidents (including Biden) have added significantly to the national debt but Trump in his four years added more to the national debt ($8 trillion) than other presidents have added in eight years. And Trump’s four year total is roughly twice Biden’s:

https://www.crfb.org/papers/trump-and-biden-national-debt

Spending programs are one-time expenses but tax cuts (and Trump’s tax cuts heavily favored the rich and corporations) are the "gift that just keeps giving", adding to the deficit year after year.

09/27/24 05:58 PM

#14434

John Maxwell

Yes I did visit with Mark in LA CA. And his lovely wife Maddie who prepared a tasty repaste.

Michael hopefully you'll correct my grammar and spelling errors. Anyway, after reading the "memorable" postings and the amazing variety of tunes from the fiftys and sixties stimulated by Michaels post about our generation's contribution to the English language. I was struck by the similarities between those tunes and the phonetic poems of Hugo Ball, founder of the DADA art movement. The movement was begun by German, French and Swiss artists in 1914 in Zurich, Switzerland in protest to WWI. The DADA movement was the anti-art statement by these artists. At that time Cubism was taking its earliest form as were the budding surrealist's dreams.

09/29/24 01:53 PM

#14435

Timothy Lavelle

Alabama-Georgia game yesterday.....man, I hope you got to watch that. One of the best struggles I thnk I've ever seen. Super entertaining. Bama's new head coach is the guy from U Dub.

Lots of nice things said on TV about Team Bullware...U.K. looking tough this year.

Party on.

09/29/24 09:43 PM

#14436

13th century italy left us dante's inferno

15th century england brought us hamlet

20th century united states' cultural contribution to humanity:

ooo eee ooh ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang

09/30/24 02:00 PM

#14437

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Death Notice

Just read on the BWHS Alumni newsletter that Steve Hemmelgarn died on 24 August 2024. I confirmed that on another website.

Anyone have any details or was aware of his death?

Jim

09/30/24 04:29 PM

#14438

So sad to hear of Steve's passing, Jim. I didn't know him well but he was in a lot of my classes along the Watterson journey. He was smart and kind and had a quiet sense of humor.

https://www.wtap.com/2024/08/27/obituary-hemmelgarn-steven-l/

https://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/community-news/2024/08/long-time-news-and-sentinel-sports-editor-writer-steve-hemmelgarn-dies/

09/30/24 05:04 PM

#14439

Mark Schweickart

So sorry to hear about Steve Hemmelgarn. My favorite memory of him was when I would occasionally run into him at OSU when we were undergrads there. Steve wanted to become a sports journalist and had gotten a part time job as an attendant to the football team (eventually becoming the manager of the team) and therefore he was able to regale me with tales of how maniacal crazy old Woody Hayes could get. I remember one day him telling me that Woody would often get so mad that he would need to punch an offending player, but one day, instead, he tried to control himself, but in doing so, he began to shake until he finally just snatched his own glasses from his face and crushed them in his hands. Then glowering at all those standing around him, he just stared them down, daring them to comment. Of course, no one did. Ah Woody, always the paragon of good sportsmanship.

09/30/24 05:17 PM

#14440

Joseph Gentilini

Really sorry to hear about Steve Hemmelgarn's passing. I can still see his face in my mind. I don't think he was in a lot of my classes, but he could have been - he was a quiet guy. Eternal rest unto him, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. Joe

09/30/24 05:45 PM

#14441